Wipeout Chronicles
by TheKeg11
Summary: The Wipeout Chronicles are a series of short stories that create a full picture of the Wipeout universe. If you were ever curious about the rivalry with the Tetsuo Twins, or what happened to Goteki 45, or what is going on with AG racing now, here would be the place for it. (Entries also published on WipeoutZone under the Fan Fiction section)
1. 2058 - The Drawn Year

**2058 - The Drawn Year**

Throughout the F3600 years, there had been quite a few close seasons. But none were as ever close as the 2058 League, where there were three draws within the pilots' and team's championships.

2058 started on a low: the first League race to be run since the death of Chinese pilot Daniel Chang in Japan in mood on the first race in Canada was sombre as fans and teams were curious and concerned how would the series will go with the new safety measures that had been implemented by the Race Commission. Although they were assured that AG racing would be safe and secure for both the pilots and spectators, not everyone was convinced.

AG Systems managed to attend the race seemingly relaxed, as if Chang's death had never happened. John Dekka still sat in the lead pilot's position but was joined by British pilot Marcus Fairclough. Fairclough was the first of the developmental pilots to make it to the main league, with special training achieved by both AG Systems UK and the Royal Air Force. Fairclough was instantly acknowledged in the AG community as a possible contender for the championship in the future. Fairclough brushed these praises off with modesty.

FEISAR was another team to have a pilot change for the 2058 season. Lead pilot, Sofia de la Rente, had stood down from the main pilot role to concentrate her attention to developmental roles within the team, as well as other interests. Paul Jackson replaced her as lead pilot and was joined by former AGRC pilot, Ami Nakajima. Nakajima had been FEISAR's main test pilot and technical advisor since the start of the F3600, but her popularity from her time a a pilot has never wained. Her comeback was met with near fanatical frenzy. Some critics were concerned about this move, believing this exposure may hinder FEISAR's championship efforts. But FEISAR's new team manager, Patrick Renaudin, was brimming with confidence "...with one of the best pilots of the AGRC, Jackson's 2nd place performance in the 2055 season, and the adjustments done to the ship during the hiatus would catapult FEISAR to the top of the leaderboards."

Auricom and Qirex opted not to change their lineups, with both teams having full confidence in their seasoned pilots. Auricom had undergone quite a transformation over the 2-year hiatus period, with the debut of the AR2800 Model A, the first dual-hulled racing craft in professional AG racing (their dual-hulled prototype from the AGRC didn't count). This craft is said to improve the stability of the craft, if hit by weapons, as the design can accomodate more gravity repulsionm areas as well as the extra power of the new Pro-Am SR980 stabilising surfaces and space left over for larger engines. Despite using the same engines as their outgoing AR2700, albeit modified in-house, the craft has proved to be very promising in pre-season testing.

Both pilots, Arial Tetsuo and Anastasia Cherovoski, claimed that the new craft has exceeded their expectations in terms of handling, and noticed the considerable improvement in speed as well. Team manager, Emile "E.W." Waters says "that both pilots have come well accustomed to the new craft, and can push through the lumbering Qirex craft with ease." Critics claimed that Auricom is the team to beat this season.

Auricom's confidence resulted in Qirex's anxiety. Still satisfied with their progress so far, they spent most of the hiatus just training and conditioning their pilots. When news of Auricom's revoltionary new ship emerged, Qirex hastily upgraded their craft so that it can ram past the American team. However, in pr-season testing, it is obvious, even with the upgrades, the 2058 Qirex ship is struggling to find speed in the corners. If Qirex has any shot in winning the championship, both pilots, Kel Solaar and Arian Tetsuo, would need to work together (which hasn't always been the case).

At the first race at Altima, both Auricoms blew away all the opposition to come out with a very satisfying win: the first 1-2 finish for the team. But most remarkably, Ami Nakajima proved she's still got it by pushing past 6-time champion Kel Solaar to collect 3rd. As ever, Solaar was outraged of the performance of Nakajima, and demanded that an investigation to be put forwards. Despite the accusations (of overpowered machnes), the charges agasinst Nakajima were dropped.

This set the tone for the rest of thes season, with Auricom constantly gaining the top positions on the podium, and the constant battles between Solaar and Nakajima. But the big battles were between the two Auricom pilots. Arial managed to pick up 3 wins and 2 seconds and Cherovoski took the opposite, gong into the final round in Greenland. Nakajima stayed one step ahead of Solaar by placing third for all but one round of the season (which was in Germany, where Nakajima experienced some control problems towards the end, giving third to Solaar). Going into the final round, the placings were: L. TETSUO [41]; CHEROVOSKI [39]; NAKAJIMA [26]; SOLAAR [17].

There were a lot of expectations at Silverstream. The main assumption was that Auricom would dominate, with a slight bias towards Arial Tetsuo taking the win, and Nakajima in third. Despite Qirex's smear campaign during most of the season, there was nothing to stop Arial's pouplarity amongst fans. Kel Solaar, it was rumoured, to be the most pent up anyone had ever seen him in his 20 year career. A former technician at the time noted that "Kel was so tense that a slight misunderstanding could give you break your nose. I once heard him say "I've got nothing to lose. I'm going to go out there and blitz everyone!"

The race got off to a predictable start, with Arial in the lead followed by her teammate, and further back, Solaar. By the end of the first lap, Nakajima pulled ahead of Solaar, but a series of 'lucky' weapon pads saw Solaar pass and pull ahead of Nakajima, and reach the backburner of Arial (Cherovoski had since passed her). Although Arial used the more manoeverable ship to outmatch Solaar, a mistake at the second split saw Solaar take the shorter route and assume second. The race came down to the wire with Solaar and Cherovoski battling out for victory in one of the greatest battles of the time. At first, it was believed that Cherovoski would win and become the champion. Exiting the shorter of the split routes, Solaar rams Cherovoski out of his way and holds onto the lead as they cross the finish line.

Solaar's determination, which was frowned upon by many fans, had led to three draws in the standings: Arial and Cherovoski on 46; Solaar and Nakajima on 26 in the pilots' standings; and FEISAR and Qirex on 29 (including some points scored by Paul Jackson and Arian Tetsuo in the season) in the teams' standings. However, due to the procedures regarding a drawn championship, Arial Tetsuo became the 2058 World Champion as she had claimed more wins than her teammate. Thrid palce was awared to Ami Nakajima (part because she had been more successful thorugout the season, but also to penalise Solaar for his actions in Greenland) and FEISAR claimed 2nd in the teams ahead of Qirex.

Despite this, 2058 signified the first world championship for Tetsuo, and Auricom.


	2. Nobuyuki Sato vs Konstantin Rykov

**Famous Rivalries - Nobuyuki Sato v. Konstantin Rykov**

If you asked me which was the greatest rivalry in AG racing history, my answer will not be what you'll expect. I admit there are some famous rivalries, such as the Tetsuo twins, or the Belmondo-Khumala battles of the 2159 season. But, in my opinion, the most satisfying rivals would have to be Nobuyuki Sato and Konstantin Rykov of the 2070s.

Nobuyuki Sato made his F3600 debut at the start of the 2069 season. There had been alot of changing around during the pre-season following the retirements of Kel Solaar and Anastasia Cherovoski at the end of the previous season. Sato had replaced Marcus Fairclough after he went to Auricom and was paired with young Italian pilot, Paulo Marino. In his first two seasons, Sato made his presence well felt, with a couple of point scoring finishes in his first season and a couple of podium places the year after. By 2070, AG Systems were the team to beat (following Marino's championship win the year before). Sato continued his phenominal run, winning 5 of the 7 races of the season, giving him the world championship in only his third year of competing.

Konstantin Rykov came up through unconventional channels. Because of the triumphs of Kel Solaar, most up-and-coming Russian pilots would look to Qirex Industries to enchance their careers. However, Rykov went to FEISAR instead. He later claimed that in associating with FEISAR, he would be given the easiest and purist way to enter professional racing, away from the intrigues of media exposure (after all, Qirex was controlled by the Overtel datacast Corporation). After three years at FEISAR Study, Rykov debuted in 2071 and, like Sato, make a big impact, scoring 3 consecutive third placings in Germany, Russia and the United States.

Sato and Rykov saw themselves as serious title contenders for the 2072 season, along with the previous year's champion, Marcus Fairclough. With Qirex's decline following Sofia de la Rente's retirement, this was the first time where the champion's race was wide open. At the first race of the season in Canada, Sato got off to a brilliant start, leaving Rykov and Fairclough to battle it out for second. Numerous times the 2nd/3rd positions switched as both pilots tried to shake off the other. This stalemate caused both pilots to catch up to Sato in the later stages of the race, turning it into a three-way battle royale. Eventually, Fairclough face defeat from his younger rivals and settled for third, with Rykov in second and Sato taking victory.

Throughout the rest of the season, all three pilots showed some of their best races with all three sharing at leat one win each. However, Fairclough managed to put the Canada race behind him to win the 2072 season by 8 points ahead of Sato on 49 and Rykov on 41. After winning his second championship, Fairclough announced his retirement.

At first, alot of people believed that 2073 season was going to be a Sato-Rykov grudgematch, especially with Rykov moving to Qirex. However, they didn't count on Fairclough's replacement at Auricom: female Canadian pilot, Paige Mercer. Mercer was the pride of Canada; a master of the local circuits and destined for championship success in the F3600 League. She was not to disappoint, managing to pull just ahead of Sato to take the 2073 championship, with 5 wins to her name. Both Sato and Rykov scored respectable finishes, normally filling in the podium finishes. But everyone was starting to believe that the battle between Sato and Rykov was never going to happen.

This was even more of a reality during the next season, where Rykov spent most of his time racing against his teammate, the Spaniard Matteo Munoz. Munoz had been called the "Fiery Matador" because of his short temper and agressive piloting style, but it was his behavior during the 2074 season that well earned him this title. At the final race of the season at the Firestar Research Station on Mars, Munoz had pushed passed his teammate and was scratching at the afterburners of second placed Mercer. As they approached the last chicane, it was almost obvious that Munoz wasn't going to pass the agile Canadian so, therefore, he should've held his position and been satisfied for second. However, Munoz would do the opposite: he would shunt into the back of Mercer's craft, putting her into the wall, and safely navigated the corner to achieve second palce, behind Sato. To consolate her misfortune, Rykov would alow Mercer to finish in third. Afterwards, Mercer angrily argued with Munoz over the shunt, eventually riling up the fiery Spaniard. In attempting to break up the fight, Rykov was accidently punched by Munoz, breaking his nose. Although the Commission did not disqualify him from the race, Munoz was banned from racing for five years, and was subsequently sacked from Qirex (Munoz's sacking was also as a result of Rykov's protests to the team about Munoz's attitude). Munoz never saw the track again.

For alot of people, the 2075 season started to bring them the Sato-Rykov battle they had longed for. The Qirex team was harmonious with the signing of FEISAR graduate Makku Eerik, and Rykov pulled all the stops to give himself the best possible chance in winning the championship. Sato too was confident in the season, especially with the pre-season performance of Paulo Marino.

The first three races saw a full-on battle for victory between the three pilots, with Marino winning in Canada and Germany and Rykov taking Japan. However, Sato was the most consistant pilot of the three, scoring three 2nds and two wins, and led the championship battle going into the penultimate race at Silverstream. But, quite unexpectantly, Rykov managed to find the speed he needed (plus Sato had difficulties finding speed) and pulled a wonderful win, with Marino behind him in second, thus going into the final race with 4 points seperating the leaders. On Mars, Rykov managed to replicate his fine form to take out that race as well as his first world championship with Sato in second (3rd in the race), followed by Marino.

2076 was nothing but Sato vs. Rykov, even though they had some challenges from Paige Mercer along the way. Both pilots were constantly on the top two steps on the podium, and displayed some of the closest battles of the era. A prime example was the American round at Arridos IV. With Sato initially leading, those two were neck-a-neck throughout the whole race, passing each other more times than can be counted. Eventually, Rykov held out to win the race, beating Sato by six seconds. The final race on Mars seemed anti-climatic, with Rykov holding a firm lead and eventually taking the race by 11 seconds. But on the podium, Sato embraced Rykov, and later said that "Konstantin won this season just as much as I have. I couldn't have a better opponent to fight against."

Both pilot's dominance would wane over the years. Sato would spent the next few years in the midpack, in the shadow of Paige Mercer (who would replace the retiring Marino at AG Systems in 2077) before retiring at the end of the 2079 season. Rykov would switch to Auricom (which was one of the biggest controversies at the time) and would win two more championships in 2077 and 2081 (with AG Systems) before retiring himself.


	3. Origins of Dual-hulled AG Craft

**Origins of Dual-Hulled AG Craft**

Dual-hulled craft have been an icon of AG racing for most of its history. Half of all the teams currently competing in the FX400 League run a variant of the celebrated architecture, based on the team's characteristics. The ship still wows spectators today as it did when it debuted in the inaugural years of the AGRC.

As part of the conditions of the AGRC, each team must develop a prototype ship design to be presented to the racetrack sometime during the 2050 season. The goal of this was to demonstrate what a craft of the future should be like, as well as initiate development projects within the competing teams. All the teams accepted this condition and started development of their prototype crafts at the start of 2048, some even starting the year before. However, American team Auricom Research Industries, led by Delia Flaubert, opted to wait until the end of 2048 to start.

Flaubert had been the Chief Science Officer at AG Systems, and was in charge of the design and development of new technologies at the company. When Flaubert formed Auricom, following her dismissal form AG Systems, she structured the company with a considerable influence on design and development rather than manufacturing. This was also due to her stubborn belief in Pierre Belmondo's philosophy of using AG technology for the benefit of all. As such, most of their ships had been average in ability. To compensate for this, the team put some emphasis on the durability of their craft; a trait that would become a hallmark of Auricom.

It was this reason that Auricom opted to focus on the craft's durability when designing their Prototype craft. Also, their late start of their prototype gave them an idea of the competition currently racing, so they could exploit their weaknesses. After extensive study, the design team in charge of the prototype decided to increase the power of the AG generators. They saw that after a hit with a weapon, the crafts tended to drift uncontrollably for a few moments and that the answer to this problem was to raise the magnetic strength of the generators.

However, this theory was not as easy to implement. The added power to the Generators had several effects on the test craft ranging from lack of thrust to disturbance with the controls. It became evident that their conventional ships would not work, so a new ship would have to be built from the ground up. However, things were about to change as a result of an idea from junior engineer, Cole Pine.

Pine had been employed by Auricom after he graduated from Pennsylvania State University, and was quickly placed with the development team of the Prototype craft. Pine had been renowned to 'think outside the box' despite his average engineering and problem solving skills. Whilst everyone was organising themselves around a single-hull ship, Pine realised that the problem lay not in the specifics of the ship, but the general ship itself: the added power could not be supported on a streamlined single-hulled ship. He quickly proposed the idea of a dual hulled ship straight to team principle "E.W." Waters and, indirectly, Flaubert herself.

Pine pointed out that because of the added area of the two hulls, the added strength of the AG generators can be eually distributed over the two side hulls which, in turn, would keep the craft upright better than a single-hull craft and provide space for more powerful engines. As well as these points, Pine pointed out that because of the twin-hulled architecture, they can create less air resistance and is significantly lighter than a traditional single hull ship. (Pine had gotten these idea from his father's 'catamaran': a dual-hulled boat).

Interested (and cursing that she never thought of it), Flaubert pushed this idea through and, by early 2050, the first twin-hull prototype was tested. Everyone in Auricom was amazed with what they created; a highly stable craft that doesn't lose speed from collisions with weapons or walls, and have the potential of higher speeds than what was used (in the test). The only shortfall of this craft was the harder handling because of the wider and less aerodynamic chassis. But Flaubert maintained that this was a minor issue that the pilots can easily overcome.

At the first prototype races, the Auricom craft punched above this weight by constantly competing at the front. The only crafts that could beat Auricom were the FEISAR and possibly the Pir-Hana prototypes, due to their speed. The results proved so positive that Auricom planned to build a production model for full-time competition. However, influenced by Pierre Belmondo, the AG Race Commission re-structured the AGRC to standardise the championship. As such, Auricom were initially denied use of the dual-hulled craft for professional competition but after a discussion with League officials, Auricom were allowed to introduced the dual hull any time after the year 2056 (after 5 years of the F3600).

At first, Auricom had some difficulties balancing their racing commitments with the dual hull development. They managed to get a ship almost ready for competition in the 2057 season. However, Daniel Chang's death during the 2056 season halted all AG racing until improvements in pilot safety were addressed. Auricom used this to their advantage and concentrated all their resources to get the dual hull ship ready for when the F3600 League returned.

The craft made it's highly anticipated debut at the first round of the 2058 season in Canada to the awe of spectators. With the increased stability over their rivals, critics claimed that the new craft would be hard to beat. Their predictions were right, with Auricom dominating the season to take the Team's Championship with ease, despite both pilots, Arial Tetsuo and Anastasia Cherovoski, tied with 46 points apiece. The next season wasn't as dominant as the previous year, but Auricom still remained a competitor by taking the championship for a second year in succession, with Tetsuo taking her second Pilot's Championship as well.

Unfortunately, this is where Auricom's dominance with the dual hull ended. Qirex, vengeful because of Auricom's dominance, built their own dual-hulled ship for the 2061 season. With Kel Solaar and Sofia de la Rente, Qirex would dominate the 2060s taking all but one of the Team's Championships. But despite this, the reputation of dual-hulled ships had been cast and had revolutionised AG craft design for years to come.


	4. Tetsuo Twins

**Famous Rivalries - The Tetsuo Twins: Arial and Arian**

The most famous rivalry in the history of AG racing (and arguably the most famous pilots in their own right) would be, without a doubt, the Tetsuo twins: Arial and Arian. No pilot after them has matched them in terms of charisma and intensity of their vendetta with each other (apart from maybe Zmitser Tikotsky-David Colquhoun or Natasha Belmondo). Also, it was partially because of their rivalry that the everlasting rivalry between Auricom and Qirex evolved and lives on to this day.

The twins were born on 3 April 2030 in Tokyo (Arial being older by 5 minutes) and lived most of their early lives in Shibuya. It was here that their strongly bitter rivalry started. Their father was a stockbroker with a leading international brokerage firm. But because he was making trades with many overseas customers, he was working up to and more than 20 hours a day. Although, because of technology, he was able to work from home, he only got to see his twin daughters for a very small amount of time. As such, time spent with the twins was strictly rationed with the twins monitoring how much time was spent. Although there is no evidence claiming time was shared out less equally, Arian believed that Arial was the favoured twin.

The conflict that arose from this arrangement dominated the twins' childhood and teenage lives. When Arial got an A, Arian got an A++; when Arian was the first to have a boyfriend, Arial was the first to {censored}. However, they gradually grew up along two different paths: Arial was a confident socialite, always buying the latest fashions, the latest tech and was the life of the party; whereas Arian was more reserved, more darker and was a rebellious tomboy who had several shaves with the law. The death of their father in 2042 created more conflict between the two girls. It had been reported that the two girls brawled at each other after school in 2045 which left them with numerous cuts and bruises and Arian with a broken wrist. Both were charged for the incident.

But there was one thing that the twins had in common: racing. After their father died, their mother got the girls into motor racing (and, subsequently, experimental AG racing) to release energy and become generally calmer in temperament. Both girls showed bounds of potential in small club races around Tokyo, but only Arial pursued a possible career in racing eventually competing in the inaugural Anti-Gravity Youth League of Japan.

Arian's attitude prevented her from following her sister into the higher leagues, but in hindsight it may have been for the better as Arian's character and skill matured as she was apart from her sister. Arian competed in various street racing competitions around the Tokyo Metropolis, and was rumoured to be the fastest driver on the Wangan line: a 22km section of the Shuto Expressway notorious for high-speed street racing.

Through their different paths, both sisters achieved so much success and exposure that they were both hired by the big Ag companies to race in the inaugural AG Racing Championships: Arial was hired by Auricom after winning her second consecutive Youth League title in 2047, and Arian was invited by Qirex to come to Russia and train using their all-terrain simulator. It was quite a shock when both pilots ran into each other at the opening ceremony of the first Anti-Gravity Racing Championship in 2048: it turned out; neither of them knew the other twin had also been hired to race. Despite efforts by both of them to exclude the other pilot, all requests were denied, and saw themselves facing off each other at the first round of the 2048 season at the fearful Empire Climb.

Despite their rivalry, they managed to perform considerably well, and were both chosen in their respective team line-ups for the first F3600 League season in 2052. But that was when the gloves came off. Throughout each race of the season, they were more concerned about running the other team off the track than to actually race (this was due to the more conventional race/season structure when compared to the AGRC). As such, both twins finished at the bottom of the table, despite a few points finished along the way. The two kept fighting against each other for several seasons (but, oddly, kept achieving a better overall result) until 2055, where both Auricom ships (Arial and teammate Anastasia Cherovoski) were plagued with ship problems throughout the season. Arial finished last and Arian finished 3rd behind FEISAR's Paul Jackson and her teammate, Kel Solaar.

This result was switched in 2058. With the introduction of Auricom's revolutionary dual-hull ship, both Auricoms belted the competition with Arial taking her first championship win based on number of victories. Both Qirex ships struggled to keep up with the new ships, particularly Arian who scored only 5 points between 2058 and '59. To try and get back at Auricom, Qirex launched a smear campaign in 2059 to undermine Arial, who had become popular with younger fans. Numerous verbal attacks were placed on her ranging from cheating to extremes such as allegations of prostitution as a teenager. This ran until 2060 when the F3600 Anti-Gravity Race Commission formally accused Qirex of blackmail against Auricom. Even if the campaign worked, it would've affected the performance on field which started to turn Qirex's way.

But things were starting to change between the twins. During the 2056-57 hiatus, Arial had acquired an interest in politics and became the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) main representative of Tokyo 7th District in 2061. However, Arial knew that her racing commitments were restricting her political ambitions. When her contract with Auricom ended after 2061, she was ready to move full-time into politics, but an offer to pilot with FEISAR halted this. This was because this offer was on a race-by-race status and was mainly to help tutor FEISAR's up-and-coming pilots. The 2062 season was undoubtedly their greatest season between the two with both twins constantly on the podium, and Arian taking second by 14 points over her twin. Satisfied with this result, Arial signed on for another year and both twins showed a similar performance, but not as hotly contested (Arian would win a few races of that season). Arial would retire at the end of the season.

However, Arian stayed racing with no signs of retirement. By this point, her attention had shifted from defeating her sister to taking over the lead pilot position at Qirex once Kel Solaar retired. This motivation created several good seasons for Arian, placing herself as a middle-front runner, with a couple of runner-up positions along the way. When Solaar retired, Arian became Qirex's lead pilot but was up against stiff competition for the 2069 League from her new teammate, Sofia de la Rente.

De la Rente was FEISAR's main pilot until 2056, where she left the League to pursue other interests, such as long-distance AG racing and other sports. She returned in 2062 to replace Arian and had become one of the best pilots in the league, winning the previous two Championships. Now with Qirex, she had no intentions of slowing down.

Knowing what she was up against, Arian trained extra hard to beat her teammate and take the title for herself. However, this proved fruitless as she finished fourth in the championship behind her teammate, Auricom's Marcus Fairclough and AG Systems' Paulo Marino. After a few more seasons of dismal results, Arian's contract with Qirex expired and was denied both a new contract and an extension on her old one. With no interest for from the other teams, Arian was forced to retire.

In their retirements, neither Tetsuo twin stood away from the limelight. After retiring, Arial successfully lobbied to be elected the member of Tokyo 7th District in 2068 (which she would hold until her retirement in 2086). From there, she withhold several positions within her party and the government including Public Relations Committee Chair (DPJ); Diet Affairs Committee Chair (DPJ) and Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Diet) before being elected Party President in 2076 and, subsequently, Prime Minister in 2078. Her biggest contribution was the reinvigoration of Japan's motorway network to accommodate Anti-gravity vehicles, which were starting to see mainstream domestic use, as well as many international co-operations and projects. Arial's down-to-earth but firm-handed approach to diplomacy was strongly liked by everyone, leading to a personality cult around her. Her unrivalled popularity allowed her to be elected a second term in 2082, before retiring from national politics just before the 2086 elections, wanting to draw her attention to international politics (namely the UN).

Arian was still quite known, for all the wrong reasons. Jealous of her sister came to power; she had joined a group of right-wing extremists whose goal was to undermine the DPJ. It has been reported that Arian had been involved in many conspiracies to undermine, even harm Arian and the DPJ. Arian was eventually arrested, along with several others, in 2085 for conspiring to attack the headquarters of the DPJ. Arian was sentenced 10 years imprisonment. In 2086, before her retirement, Arial went to see her sister in prison to offer her forgiveness for the rivalry between each other.

This appeared to have worked, as Arian's normally brutish behaviour subsided after she was released in 2089. In one race in 2092, fans witnessed both Arial and Arian together in a friendly manner, which was completely against their everlasting vendetta with each other. Arian reveals the reason for her behaviour in an interview with a leading British datacast channel:

[I]"All my life, I had always seen my sister as nothing but a rival. And it was obvious she saw the same thing in me. We had stubbornly believed this throughout all our lives at almost everything, and seeing her be more popular or more successful made me so sick of her I actually wanted to kill her (which I helped attempt). But when she visited me in prison, I saw a different Arial. She seemed defensive and stubborn and more open and compassionate. No way was this the Arial I knew. Normally, I would've taken those words she said to me and told her to 'shove them up your arse' but the manner in which she said made me think: was Arial being absolutely serious? And then I thought: if she's acting this way, maybe I should (a bit). I mean, despite we're enemies, we're still twins after all."[/I]

As such, Arian moderately supported Arial as UN Ambassador for Japan until Arial's full retirement from politics in 2095. Both twins would continue to be associated in AG racing in one form or another, particularly with AG Systems. They would both be alive when AG racing was upgraded to F7200. Tragically, Arial would be assassinated whilst opening a raw egg bar in Shibuya on 11 March 2117. A period of international mourning was observed for several weeks following her death. Arian would pass away peacefully 6 June 2122 after a long battle with heart disease.

In honour of the twins, AG Systems would establish the 'Tetsuo Scholarship' with their pilot development program mainly designed to support middle-class siblings entering AG racing (although this is also applicable to a single child).


	5. Amara Beshir & Assegai Developments

**Amara Beshir & Assegai Developments**

Amara Beshir can be considered to be the person who brought AG racing to Africa. Although this isn't exactly true, Beshir did play an important role in the decision to expand the sport into the African continent and, in turn, establish Africa's leading AG research corporation, Assegai Developments.

Beshir was born on 23 February 2077 in Cairo, Egypt. Her father was an executive businessman from a French sporting goods manufacturer (who had minor involvement with AG racing), so the family spent a considerable amount of time living in France. It's unclear that it was because of her father's job or from general exposure, but Beshir was very interested in AG racing from a young age. By the age of 15 she was racing in the European junior leagues at quite a competitive level. She would win the European Vector Championship in 2100 and was employed as a FEISAR test pilot the next year.

But what was quite noticeable about Beshir was her belief in Pan-Africanism. Since the early 21st century, the African nations had co-operated with each other to pursue greater economic and civil reform for all African nations. By the end of the century, Africa had became, if not already, key player in international politics and economy (through the African Union and several of its member nations such as South Africa, the East African Federation and the Arab-African nations). However, it was not completely stable. To aid their neighbouring countries as well as to recover from a downturn in their national markets, South Africa merged with neighbouring Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland to form the United African Nations in 2100 (but still referenced themselves by their former nationalities).

With a maturing socio-economic status in comparison with the rest of the world, it became obvious to the F5000 AG Race Commission that AG racing needed an African team. When Pierre Belmondo announced the plans to upgrade the F5000 to F7200 specification, he announced the potential to introduce new teams in the new League, with at least one to be African. As such in 2112, the F5000 Commission sent an invite to the African Union for them to compete in the new F7200 League.

Amara Beshir expressed great interest in the plan and lobbied the heads of FEISAR to associate herself with the establishment of the team. By this point, she had moved away from ship testing to become more involved in the administration of the company as a whole. Beshir was named as one of the heads of the new team. Over the next couple of months, Beshir would work with many businessman and engineers, African representatives and former African pilots (including Africa's first world champion, Jacob Van Vuuren). Beshir worked particularly closely with the ship the new team would race. Above all, she emphasized on the handling of the craft, so that the pilots that will control the craft would have a good starting point if they want to pursue the sport further (this came from experience with FEISAR). The pre-season testing of the ship at the Makgadikgadi salt pan showed a quick ship with extraordinary agility. This prompted Beshir to rename the team from "Team Africa" to "Team Assegai", after the traditional South African long spear.

The success of the ship in the Cross-Africa Sprint Cup, along with the added boost in the national GNP for the UAN prompted Beshir to take the team to the next level. After six months of lobbying to both the UAN and the AU, Beshir reconstructed the team into a fully-fledged AG development company called "Assegai Developments", with Beshir as its president.

Whilst the team produced some respectable finished on the track, Beshir continued to make the company as African as possible and in turn benefit the continent as a whole. The main example was the re-establishment of AG racing in Africa by way of the African AG Sprint Championships, where the winning pilot would be offered a racing seat with Assegai for the following F7200 championship. This produced some great African talent; most notable was Roland Ncita, who would help pilot Assegai to their maiden Championship victory in 2127.

By this point, Beshir had diverted her attention to the F7200 Commission. When Pierre Belmondo passed away in the same year as Assegai's victory, Beshir nominated herself to replace him. However, she was just beaten by Briton Roger Bowen, but instead held an advisory role on the F7200 board. When Overtel finally took over the Commission in 2132, her position on the board became increasingly strained as Overtel kept increasing the media value of the sport rather than promoting international sportsmanship and technological development. Eventually, she would resign from her advisory role with the Commission and went back to Assegai as President once more. Also, she had become a member of the Belmondo Foundation, which had often clashed with Overtel over League policy.

Because of this political conflict, in addition to the stresses of supporting the company in this period of AG racing, Beshir decided to step down from the presidency and retire in 2140, passing on the role of President to Dannie Maringa, Assegai's former Team Principal. This may have seen as a good step for Beshir as she had started to display some health problem in the later years of her career, eventually being crippled after a massive stroke in 2141 which left her in a coma for several weeks. Beshir would recover marginally, but would succumb to complications from this stroke on 6 May 2144.

For a lot of African AG fans, the loss of Beshir was a major tragedy for the promotion and performance of their continent abroad as she was seen as Africa in the AG community. Some critics claim that it was no surprise that Assegai declined substantially during the 2140s and was eventually bought out by Piranha (the team who had expressed the most interest in Assegai) in 2150. But, differing from the fates of AG Systems and Qirex, Piranha kept Assegai functioning as a semi-independent body (as a sign of their respect for the Africans). Assegai's patent stability technology was used in the development of the HFS-T Push-Pull Stabilizers used on their Swiftkiller F9000 ship, which contributed to Piranha's dominance during this period of racing.

Although indirectly, many people (including Pierre Belmondo) believe that Amara Beshir was a pioneer of the sport, despite appearing long after the invention of the sport, by bringing it to the plains of Africa for the first time.


	6. Kel Solaar

**Kel Solaar - The Greatest Pilot Who Ever Lived**

There is without a doubt that Kel Solaar is the greatest AG pilot of all time. He is at least the most successful with 83 podiums, 52 race wins and 10 Pilots' Championships over his 20 year career which itself is the 2nd longest serving in history. Apart from his impressive record, Solaar has shown to be a consistent pilot, whose knowledge of craft control and use of weapons makes him a dominant force despite racing only with Qirex. If Solaar was piloting for a different team, there is without a doubt that Solaar would bring home victory for that team. As such, Solaar made a massive contribution to Qirex record as being the most successful team in AG racing.

Out of the starting line-up for the inaugural F3600 League in 2052, Solaar was the only pilot born before anti-gravity technology was declassified for public use. He was born in the year 2012 and from a very young age, he had a passion for aviation. Even when AG technology was made public in 2018 (when he was 6 years old), Solaar still preferred the streamlined aeroplanes over these new floating devices.

When he finished his secondary schooling, Solaar immediately enlisted into the Russian Air Force. (Sources claim that Solaar initially wanted to become a commercial airline pilot, but his somewhat aggressive character made him more suited to a life in the military. Either way, he would've been satisfied). Solaar would spend the next 15 years training with some of the best pilots and officers on Russia on countless missions, all the while building on his piloting skills. However, Solaar always saw the most enjoyment from actually piloting the fighter jets themselves. In fact, Solaar was ranked as a "Major" upon his departure from the Air Force, but his senior officers claim that he had been offered higher ranks and had the experience of a colonel, maybe more.

Despite favouring the classic style of flight, Solaar did show an increased interest in AG technology. When the Nx1000 prototype was demonstrated in 2035, Solaar was 23 years old. After witnessing the wonder of the craft, Solaar got as much info as he could on the technology and kept up to date with the latest developments.

When the AGRC was announced in 2045, Solaar made it a 'goal' as such to compete in this new competition which would combine AG technology with what he knew from the Air Force. Solaar left the Air Force and was quickly hired by local company Qirex Industries as a test pilot and advisor for their AG ships (Solaar was also a big contributor to Qirex's patented all-terrain simulator). From the start, a lot of people saw that the relationship between Solaar and Qirex will be a long and potentially prosperous one.

Solaar made his racing debut at the first race of the 2048 Anti-Gravity Racing Championships in Nova State City. Unusually for his piloting style, Solaar was defaulted to the Agility ship (The Fighter ship was defaulted to Kurlov, who was also the lead test pilot for Qirex prototype based on the fighter). Either way, Solaar was able to bring out the strengths of either craft and it has been said that some of Solaar's best flights had been in the Agility ship.

The 2048 season had been a nail-biter between Solaar, Japan's Ami Nakajima in the FEISAR and the American AG Systems pilot, John Dekka. Solaar just managed to rise above these rivals to take the first ever AGRC championship. This was followed by another championship the following year, but just got beaten at the hat-trick by Dekka during the final round at the newly constructed, specialised Altima circuit in Canada. At this point, a fair amount of people thought that Solaar would step back from piloting and take up a supporting role for the 2052 F3600 (where there were two pilots per team). But a lot of people were surprised when Solaar was selected to be the lead pilot in Qirex's 2052 line-up, supported by Japan's Arian Tetsuo.

The first few years of the F3600 were not the easiest for Solaar, but did show a hint of what was to come. In 2052, Solaar struggled against the AG-S of Dekka, but also the FEISAR of Frenchwoman Sofia de la Rente. He finished 3rd with 4 podiums to his name. Between 2053 and 2055, his form got better, winning the pilots championship for all three years.

When Qirex débuted their dual-hulled craft in 2060, no-one could catch Solaar. In fact he won every single race from 2060 to Japan 2063; a record that he still holds to this date. Even more extraordinary when you consider he was approaching 50 years old. These few seasons contained some of Solaar's greatest races. At the American round of the 2061 season, both Qirex found themselves down the order due to some reliability issues with the craft. Solaar managed to sort these problems out before the race and adapted his piloting style to compensate, and quickly found himself behind the leaders: Arial Tetsuo of Auricom and AG Systems' Marcus Fairclough. After a closely fought battle, Solaar pulls ahead of Fairclough just before the final jump to take the win.

However, from this point, his dominance started to wane. Although he kept up his form and kept winning championships, he constantly found himself competing against his teammate, Arian Tetsuo, and in particular Sofia de la Rente of Auricom. De la Rente had returned to AG racing with Auricom after a 6-year break from the sport, and quickly became very familiar with the craft in no-time. It's said she had found speed she dreamt of when she was with FEISAR. Very quickly, de la Rente found herself mixing it with Qirex team, sometimes coming out on top. This, coupled with the tension in Qirex because of Arian's anxiety to be promoted to a lead pilot position, made her a serious threat to Solaar, and Qirex's, dominance.

This wasn't the only scrutiny behind Solaar. Ever since the early days of his career, he has been seen quite close to Auricom's Anastasia Cherovoski. Cherovoski's origins are quite hazy, but it is understood that Solaar is the only person who knows of her true identiy. Despite the amount of hype and pressure put on to both pilots, Cherovoski still remains enigmatic. The mystery of their relationship has sparked rumours on their legitimacy. Some speculate this affair was orchestrated by various datacast companies in an effort to cash in on the sport. Some extreme speculation states that there is nothing between them, and that Cherovoski is a spy for Qirex.

Eventually, after years of close racing and media frenzy, Solaar retired at the end of the 2068 season; his record streak of pilots' championships ended in 2067 when Sofia de la Rente managed to breakthrough and claim her first pilots' championship: the first for a Frenchwoman. She replicated this the year after, but this time with Arian Tetsuo in second (luckily, this was enough for Qirex to secure the teams' championship for that year). Adding onto the mystery behind Solaar and Cherovoski, Cherovoski would retire as well.

Both pilots virtually disappeared from the media for a number of years after they retired. Neither of them was seen at anymore race events or Qirex functions. Some rumours went around that they did get together, got married, and lived quite comfortably for the rest of their lives. To many people's amazement, Solaar was seen with Qirex during some races in 2096. But this was a different Solaar: instead of the tough-as-nails, aggressive but much loved pilot of his youth, he was a wise, approachable advisor to the whole of Qirex's operations. But one thing that remained was his love of racing. In an article published by 'Celebrity Home' in 2098, Solaar lived quite a reversed life in his Moscow Metro home: all the AG ships and parts were displayed in luxury whereas Solaar's quarters were near Spartan at most.

This lifestyle would eventually be his undoing. Whilst he modestly remained in the public eye for a number of years, there had been increased concerns of his health as a result of his obscure lifestyle. These fears were realised in 2113 when Solaar was found unconscious at Qirex's testing facilities in Moscow. He had just had a stroke as a result of high cholesterol and fell into a coma. He was in a coma for two weeks but after no-one personal had visited Solaar, and confirmation that Cherovoski had passed away a little over two decades previously, the doctors decided to let Solaar pass way peacefully aged 101.

A period of national mourning was observed both in Russia and the wider AG community. No pilot before had been as dominant and as professional as Solaar, and it seemed that no-one could live up to him. Probably the only pilot that may be considered as Solaar's successor was the Serbian Piranha pilot Simo Lukic. A reserved pilot, Lukic had been a talented mid-field pilot before breaking though to his first championship in 2147. From then on, Lukic was the master of the track. Whilst not as successful in terms of victory to Solaar, his charisma is similar to that of Solaar and shows good rivalry with Italian Auricom pilot Natalia Victor. Lukic would remain with Piranha into the F9000, but eventually stepped back into an advisory/developmental role with the team. But that's another story…


	7. The Classic Leagues

**Classic Leagues**

During the first century of AG racing, we had seen many outstanding pilots steer some of the most advanced ships ever crafted on a number of sheer circuits. Some of these circuits are well remembered whereas other we love to forget. This was particularly the case with the original F3600 tracks, such as Altima VII and Silverstream, and the fans were quite upset when these tracks were replaced by the then-state-of-the-art tracks of the F5000. The F7200 Classic Leagues, held between 2129 and 2134, brought AG racing back to the forgotten tracks of the previous leagues and, in a way, the last display of classic AG racing before its upcoming stranglehold by the Overtel Corporation.

On June 9 2128 Pierre Belmondo, pioneer of AG technology, passed away aged 123. A state of mourning was observed worldwide and the Stanza Inter round of the 2128 season was dedicated to him. Almost immediately, the F7200 Race Commission (under control by former FEISAR/Icaras executive Roger Bowen) began discussing how to permanently honour Pierre Belmondo. The most favourable option was to create a teams' champions' trophy in his name. But a much more ambitious idea was about to be presented.

At the same time, the Commission had the issue of upgrading the current F7200 tracks. Ever since the series' inception in 2116, the Mega City circuits had been virtually unchanged in terms of track condition. By 2128, most of the tracks looked quite dilapidated as a result of the numerous weapon detonations over the years as well as slight changes to accommodate the advancing ship and weapon designs. Because of the time it would take to renovate the tracks, several temporary locations would need to be used for the 2129 season.

During that year, the anti-gravity magazine 'AG Today' published hosted a survey asking for the fans' favourite AG tracks. The results of this survey were published in their September issue. Quite surprisingly, the majority of the top tracks were from the previous F5000 League, most of which were still in use (probably because there were a few fans who remember the old F3600 tracks). This started a series of discussions in the F7200 Commission which culminated in the decision to run the top 8 tracks from that survey for the 2129 season.

However the idea of racing modern AG craft, in speeds in excess of 600km/h, on obsolete tracks was not going to be easy, especially with the three F3600 tracks which made the list. Most of the old F3600 tracks have been left to ruin after the F3600 had been phased out (the only exception was Korodera, which had been converted to a theme park). Only Altima was in the best condition to racing standard due to the track's current use as Auricom's main test track. As such, Altima would be raced earlier in the year. Terramax, in Germany, was also quite well kept, but not to the standard as Altima. After it was retired from competition, Terramax remained open for the amateur racing scene and on-and-off held various rounds of the European Championship.

But the biggest challenge was Arridos IV, situated in the heart of Utah's Monument Valley. The biggest problem with the desert track had been its isolation from a major centre. Although Salt Lake City was no more than a half hour on an AG train, the amount of spectators that came to see the sleek ships in action became a major logistical challenge. When the F5000 was announced, the United States Anti-Gravity Association (USAGA) quickly chose a metropolitan track and allocated all resources into that track (Spilskinanke). As such, Arridos was completely abandoned and most of the tracks facilities were demolished. The only reminders of its existence had been the tunnels and segments of the track itself. Due to the massive repair of Arridos, as well as the upgrades to the circuit so that it can be race at F7200 specification, the track was worked on during the 2129 season with massive donations from several international AG Associations (the USAGA couldn't have fronted the entire bill). There were doubts that the track would be completed in time. Luckily, it was completed (albeit two weeks late) just in time for it to host the finale of the 2129 season.

There was a lot of celebration at the first round of the 2129 season at Talon's Reach with the return of AG racing to the fast Canadian track. The enthusiasm of the crowd skyrocketed when the ship were hard at it. British Pirhana pilot Laughlan Ivers pulled away from the pack to take the win. In fact, the whole 2129 season was dominated by Ivers and Pirhana with second place secured by Brazilian rookie, Vincinius Albeniz. At the end of the season, Pirhana were rightfully awarded with the new memorial trophy in honour of Pierre Belmondo: The Belmondo Cup – awarded to the team who not just finished first in the team standings, but had shown the skill and determination to achieve it.

The 2129 "Classic" season was a runaway success, enjoying popularity not seen since the F5000, if not ever in the history of the sport. This influenced the F7200 Commission, in association with the Anti-Gravity Federation (AGF) and Mega City, organised a plan to convert the F7200 to race on the older international circuits. It stated that "…the Classic Leagues will run for five years from 2130 to 2134, where at such time the F7200 Commission would assess the long-term goals of the plan and results from the previous competitions before making a decision to permanently race on these tracks."

The "Classic Leagues", as they now became known, continued to be a spectacle for audiences around the world. But it may have been from one pilot that helped the success of the Classic Leagues and create a legend: Katsuogo Muro. Muro moved to AG Systems from FEISAR's pilot development program after increased pressure from media in his homeland. Despite being a mid-pack runner over the first few years in the F7200, he had become a sort-of protégé to AG Systems' main pilot, Kurt Graham. But when the Classic Leagues came along, he was a different pilot altogether. Muro was always at in the leading pack and gave the veterans a good run for their money. He managed to the tighter tracks to his advantage and ran away to his first F7200 Championship in 2030. Eventually, everyone knew that Muro, in the quick and nimble AG Systems, on the tight tracks of the Classic League, was unstoppable. It's no wonder that Muro (and AG Systems) claimed all but one Classic League Championship.

Apart from Muro, there were a few other pilots which stood out during this period of the F7200. The other AG-S pilots, Finn Jarno Toivonen and Zhang Dan, both shone at times. Muro and Toivonen were really good friends as well as teammates, and generally if you saw one on the track, there was a higher chance you would run into the other. On numerous occasions, Toivonen supported Muro in his championship attack and helped keep the charging Auricoms at bay to secure the 2133 Teams' Championship for AG Systems. Zhang would assist the fighting duo in any way he can and sometimes gave Muro the support that Toivonen couldn't give.

Auricom pilots Mélissa Flament and Aaron Hayden both were quite competitive as well. Flament kept achieving high placed finishes, even a 3rd place, up until her retirement at the end of the 2131 season; and Hayden would rise to become a strong pilot for Auricom who would finally break the AG Systems dominance after the Classic Leagues ended in 2135.

Sadly, this popular era of AG racing was not to last. In 2132, the Overtel Corporation managed to take majority control of the Commission from the Belmondo Foundation. Seeing more profits that would come from a central location over international races, Ovetel did not continue with the Classic League plan and AG racing came back to Mega City in 2135. This was met with serious outcry from the public (who had grown stronger than ever due to the convenience of the races in their countries) and even the threat of boycotts plagued the decision. Despite Overtel completely revamping the media design for the sport, which exposed AG racing to extreme levels of publicity, they were still viewed with suspicion form then onwards. They were marginally forgiven when Overtel announced that the public will choose the tracks for the F9000 when it was announced in 2152.

However this, plus the abolishing of AG racing after the fall of the F9000, most of these tracks were left to rot and as of today, the only way to race on these classic tracks is via simulator.


	8. 2137 P-Mar Brawl

**2137 P-Mar Brawl**

The P-Mar Brawl of 2137 still resounds quite familiar with AG teams and fans today, as it was the first time that AG racing (or motor racing, for that manner) had seen a conflict between two teams in such violent circumstances. Whereas other teams would protest over an incident through a formal protest or motivation to innovate so as to gain an advantage over the other team, the tension between Goteki 45 and Icaras in the lead-up to that fateful race in September would spark into one of the bloodiest moments in the sport's history.

Although they were new teams to AG competition, the Pacific Goteki 45 and British-based Icaras teams were not favourably liked by the community: Goteki with their focus on on-track combat than racing success and the commercial background and behaviour of the privately entered Icaras. As such, these teams normally remained at the back of the grid with FEISAR. On the odd occasion, they did enjoy some success but were constantly cut down with criticisms of their success. When Goteki won their maiden championship in 2128, the team was bombarded with criticism and accusations of foul play on part of the team. Their 2128 victory was indeed legitimate, but it was obvious that the more "pure" members of the community did not want this sort of team taking "their" silverware.

Things were looking quite well for Goteki and Icaras during the mid 2130s with both teams contracting and/or training talented pilots. This was particularly evident with Icaras when they acquired "DJ" Jukka Rautio in 2133, followed by Kenyan pilot Thomas Tanui from Assegai two years later (briefly). Although they never finished higher than 9th, they were never eliminated in a race which, for Icaras, was outstanding. In 2135, Goteki acquired female Polynesian pilot Sarema Illkeina from the Pacific Leagues. Over the course of two years, she had become the only possibility of the team winning another championship.

2137 was destined to be one of the most competitive battles in the F7200 League. Not just because of a classic Auricom-Qirex battle between Wolfgang Van-Über and Fyodor Eppirov respectively, but for the first time the top eight pilots all came from different teams. This included Illkeina for Goteki and upcoming British Icaras pilot George Dravare. The first race at Porto Kora was quite predictable, but after the next race at Mega Mall saw two battles going on: between Van-Über, Eppirov, Piranha's Vincinius Albeniz and the late great Laughlan Ivers out front, and Dravare against Jarno Toivonen of AG Systems and Roland Ncita of Assegai.

The scene at Icaras was ecstatic during most of the year with all night parties put on to celebrate the point-scoring placing Dravare achieved in the previous race (they only have ever done this twice previously). At Mega Mall, Dravare managed to pip Toivonen to the line to score 5th and 2 points: his first points of his careers and Icaras' first in almost a decade. This was followed by a 6th placing at Sampa Run (after a hard fought battle with Goteki) and another 5th and Stanza Inter. It had been commented that Icaras were celebrating as if they had won the championship.

At the start of the second half of the season, Goteki, who had fallen back in the first half, were starting to come back with Illkeina's 4th placing at Hi-Fumii bringing here up behind Dravare and Toivonen in the standings (Ncita at this point was challenging the front runners). Icaras were starting to have some reliability issues with their craft, which dropped Dravare to 8th and the other Icaras crafts to near last: they had been careless with maintenance in midst with celebrating Dravare's successes. This result inspired both teams to up their game for the next race at the tricky P-Mar Project.

Both Goteki and Icaras had their intentions to go well, but both saw stiff competition from the other. Whilst both teams had been back-runners, Goteki had made it habit to prey on the weak-shielded Icaras craft just for pleasure. Knowing that Icaras was threatening a good placing, they were going to place particular focus on them. Icaras also saw the threat of elimination by Goteki (and knew that P-Mar was one of their most hated tracks). So, they placed massive resources on Dravare so he can rise above the Icaras' "flaws" and take home a good place.

The start saw a commonly seen line-up: Van-Über and Eppirov out front followed by Ivers, but with Toivonen in a tight battle with Albeniz for fourth, leaving the three newer teams bringing up the rest of the field. Dravare and Illkeina battled quite hard with each other, clearly no quarter was given. Then suddenly, the tables were turned after Vincinius Albeniz scored a lucky quake which forced the original (and leading) four pilots to pit again, putting them out of contention.

With the first two positions were likely to be Albeniz followed by Assegai's Roland Ncita, it was a dogfight between Dravare and Illkeina for third. Both team owners, Resaru Kipwada (Goteki) and Burnston Burns (Icaras) reportedly exclaimed "This is it, get on with it!" but not reply from either pilot (both pilots had their radios of to get extra thurster power). This battle between Dravare and Illkeina was one of, if not, the hardest battles fought over three-quarters of a lap. Coming onto the final straight, Dravare, with the Icaras' superior speed managed to just pull ahead of Illkeina, but a lucky plasma bolt from the Goteki hit dead-on to the Icaras engine: denying Icaras' first podium just metres from the finish.

The sudden shock and outrage from the event caused an outburst of emotion within the Icaras team. But the most infuriated members instantly went to confront the "victorious" Goteki team. What resulted was an all-out riot between both teams that also included the neighbouring teams of AG Systems and Assegai (trying to break it up of course). Local authorities broke up the fighting which saw most members of both teams arrested. In total, 31 mechanics were injured, 5 of which were permanently crippled with a mechanic on each team killed. Kipwada himself succumbed to blunt force trauma to the head a few days after.

The entire AG community was in shock from the incident. A few pilots, such as Ncita, Toivonen and Ivers, would retire at the end of the year, using the incident and the resultant political trials as motivation to escape the increasingly political issues of the League. There were even rumours that the League would be suspended again (which were quickly extinguished).

Two weeks after the incident, the court cases began. Goteki defended that their actions were all within League rules, but Icaras maintained that Goteki deliberately held onto that plasma so they can humiliate Icaras whilst denying them their first podium. Most of the other teams couldn't understand what and why this happened, in particular Qirex who had long time supported Goteki against their corruption allegations over the years, but had also provided Icaras with shielding technology to not stir any bad blood between the two teams.

As the subsequent trials went out, a decision was made quickly. Because the background leading up to the incident wasn't illegal or morally incorrect, both teams had no reason to start the brawl between them. As such, both teams were charged of causing a violent conflict with another competing team, stripped of all points acquired during the year and banned from competition until at least the end of the 2138 season (this is in addition to paying damages to both the circuit and all parties injured in the incident). The main influence behind the quick decision was the threat of the League's suspension due to the trials.

Goteki would not return after their base of operations on the man-made Hawaiian island of Makana was bombed by an unknown party later in the month. To this day, no-one has claimed responsibility although there had been conspiracy theories pointing the blame to Icaras.

Icaras would return in 2139, but at nowhere near the strength and exposure they had before the P-Mar Brawl. Although George Dravare stayed with the team and raced quite well, even scoring second at Manor Top in 2140, the team was sevrely vilified for causing the P-Mar Brawl in the first place; as such, when Burnston Burns died from a balloon accident that year, his son Terence to dissolve the team and trade in his father's assets for a quiet home in the country.

On the bright side, not everyone involved in the Brawl was booed out by the AG community. This is mainly with Dravare. After Icaras dissolved, Dravare immediately sort out to sign with another team to keep his career going. He wanted to show to the world that he was a genuinely good pilot, not another Icaras playboy. He managed to sign with Qirex for 2141, which helped him win his only championship the year after and kept showing good form until his retirement at the end of 2146. Jukka Rautio too found success after Icaras, immediately defecting to Piranha after Icaras' barring and took the 2138 championship with the Brazilian team. Rautio would retire at the end of the 2142 season. Thomas Tanui (who signed with Goteki in 2136) would return to Assegai for a few years before retiring in 2144, finishing last.


	9. Wolfgang Van-Über

**Woflgang Van-Über**

There is without a doubt that Wolfgang Van-Über is right up there with the most influential personalities of AG racing as well as with the best pilots of all time. A much loved figure, Van-Über is quite famous for his purist stance to racing, even refusing to use weapons and insisted to race on skill alone. And even in retirement, he was still a familiar sight within the AG Leagues through his home-grown racing team, Van-Über Racing Developments. Van-Über is very much a true living legend of the sport.

Van-Über's beginnings were quite humble. Born in a blue-collar, racing fan family in Hamburg on 3 September 2107, Van-Über's early passion was athletics. Van-Über was quite competitive, becoming a regular sight in numerous regional and national athletic competitions and events. This was a key reason* why he would adopt an anti-aggressive stance on AG racing later on:

[I]"…When I was sprinting, in my youth, there was no politics; no aids; nothing. It was just a group of young boys running to find out who was faster out of our own devices. With AG racing, if someone passes you, you wait for a particular corner or hold a weapon and use that to your advantage – you will get back ahead. In running, if you got passed you'll give it your all to get back and if you can't, that's just the way it is: you win some, you lose some."[/I]

As Van-Über got older, his attention turned to AG racing, and eventually made his debut in the European Junior Championships in 2123. Although it can be noted that Van-Über used weapons as much as the other pilots, these Leagues were much less reliant on weapons to change the outcome of the race so eliminations in themselves were quite rare. This started to change when he started to associate himself with the main F7200 teams, namely FEISAR. Although quite eager to race with them, it was reported that Van-Über expressed some dissatisfaction with racing at this level and had complained about how much firepower he had to use to turn the race his way.

As Van-Über admits, he threatened to walk away from the League on more than one occasion, but one thing was keeping him from doing that: his speed. In his time trials, Van-Über is one of the fastest pilots to ever have raced with FEISAR, and in turn tried to use his speed to his advantage. At times this worked, but he was still hindered from weapon hits.

If there was a definitive moment where Van-Über announced and stuck with his anti-weapon belief, it was a Venom class race in 2130, as Wolfgang remembers it…

[I]"I was in second coming up behind an Auricom craft (fielded by a privateer team) towards the end of the race when my crew chief had told me to eliminate him quickly. The pilot of the Auricom craft hadn't run a perfect race (he was caught in a crash with a few other pilots), so his shields were quite low, but had decent speed to keep my craft at bay. I initially didn't want to do it because I thought I can catch him, but I was ordered by my team. So I eased off and eliminated him with a missile on the last lap (anti-climatic, I know). After the presentation ceremony, I immediately left feeling quite upset with my team and myself; not just for not having faith in myself but for not winning with my own skills…"[/I]

His attitude towards racing in the F7200 changed dramatically midway through 2127 when his older brother, Klaus, got involved in a high-speed hovercar crash which left him with severe spinal injuries. Although with the advancements of medicine, Klaus was still able to walk but was permanently disabled. Klaus, like Wolfgang, had ambitions to race in the F7200, and was quickly approaching his zenith in the European Leagues. Wolfgang, taking up the mantle as the family racer, swore to race for his brother as well as himself and contributed a sizeable share of his winnings and sponsorship funds into Klaus' ongoing treatment. Klaus never forgot his brother's generosity.

Van-Über made his official debut with FEISAR in 2131 alongside Johan Janson of Sweden and Canada's Léa Guise and made a big impact. He constantly placed within the top 10 and scored a few points along the way. The most notable was the final race at Arridos IV, where he managed to score third behind Alisa Novosad and the late great Katsuogo Muro. Van-Über became hot property throughout the 2132 season with offers for quite a few teams, whilst continuing to score point-scoring finishes for his original team. Van-Über would sign a contract with Auricom at the end of the year.

For Auricom, 2133 was to be one of the strongest years in years with Van-Über signing alongside their current lead pilot, American Aaron Hayden. Hayden, like Van-Über, had been a rapidly rising star-of-the-future, placing 5th in only his second year of competition. It was acknowledged that either pilot can successfully challenge for the title, but was more difficult for Van-Über because of his principles. This is reflected in the final points tally whereas Hayden had consistent high placed finishes, eventually finishing second, Van-Über was placed all over the top 10 from as high as third to as low as 9th.

This was similar in 2134, although this time Van-Über only stood on the podium once when he should've been supporting his teammate's assault on the dominating AG Systems. It was rumoured that Van-Über's contract with Auricom would be cancelled if he did not produce good results for the next season, strongly suggesting to abandon his now infamous belief in, what was now called, the "purity of the race".

However, there were radical changes to the League in 2135. For one, the death of Muro dragged AG Systems' morale down a lot, but the F7200 Race Commission (under administration from Overtel) had changed the calendar back to Mega City. With the generally more technical circuits was where Van-Über's "handicap" didn't appear. Motivated for a place on the team, Van-Über blitzed everyone with his performance, even more with his refusal to use weapons (unless absolutely necessary) and clean-swept the season; his nearest opponent was 49 points behind.

2136 was a tough year for Van-Über and the Auricom team with a tough battle being played out between Van-Über and teammate Bobby Butler, Vincinius Albeniz (Piranha), Fyodor Eppirov (Qirex) and Laughlan Ivers (FEISAR). However, Auricom had a firm grip on the Teams' championship (they were the only team with two point-scoring pilots) and Van-Über taking the last three races to take his second title.

2137 was marred by a brawl between Icaras and Goteki 45 at P-Mar Project which lead to the suspension of both teams. As this was the last year of his original contract, Van-Über had originally decided to leave the sport using the P-Mar Brawl as the perfect opportunity to distance himself from the current state of the sport. As stated in his autobiography, it took a lot of convincing from newly installed Director of Operations Gideon Oldfield that made him change his mind from an early retirement, and signed a new three-year contract that he was allowed to exit anytime he wanted.

It's fortunate he re-signed, as he showed some of his best racing in those three years as he battled against "DJ" Jukka Rautio (who had signed with Piranha). Whilst just beaten to the 2138, he came back stronger in 2139 and battled hard with Rautio to achieve his fourth title before announcing his retirement from professional racing.

Van-Über's retirement stunned everyone. This was because that Van-Über was still quite young at 32 and was still at a strong point of his career with many years still ahead. His reasoning, when quizzed by the media, his family and Auricom themselves, is that:

[I]"…no team should continually have one pilot to take all the glory, and that another pilot should have a chance to shine in his place. And in turn, he would make sure that other young pilots had a chance to fly and be successful as I had been."[/I]

Leading up to his retirement from racing, Van-Über had developed an interest is the development of the craft, and was quite involved in the development of his Auricom craft during the last few years. When he retired, Van-Über wished to enter craft development and pass on his on-track experience into developing an ideal craft. FEISAR offered Van-Über a position on their team as a head designer, but Van-Über turned this down, insisting he wanted to do it alone. After experimenting with a few designs over the next few years, Van-Über formally established Van-Über Racing Developments in 2142 along with Klaus and a good friend of Van-Über, Ryan Morgan, with technical assistance from FEISAR.

For the first 10 years, Van-Über saw considerable success in the European AG League, even managing to score back-to-back titles in 2149 and '50. This success, as well as the announcement of the F9000, motivated them to push for entry into the AGRC. They were granted a full season entry in 2151, filling the position vacated by Assegai, and used this season as an experimental season, to observe the field that would be entering the F9000. Van-Über's nephew, Sören, performed quite well managing two podiums (which is more that can be said for the other two pilots, who failed to score all season).

Their first season in the F9000 wasn't a good one, with the team finishing only one race in the whole season (Songen Grey's 6th place at Temtesh Bay), but they gradually grew as the seasons progressed. The scored their first and only race win at Cubiss Float in 2157, and coming in 5th place in the 2158 and 2159. However, the durability of the craft plagued the team and they gradually fell to near bottom throughout the rest of the F9000.

But despite this, Van-Über was quite popular due the charisma of Wolfgang and his belief in the "purity of the race". In an interview in 2159, he famously quoted "…we must remain cleaner than clean… If all the clouds in the sky turn black, who can hope that the rain will ever cease?" In this period, he coined the term "the sublime and delicious game", which has entered common use and has further influenced the name of the AG datasheet "Sublime and Delicious" and Van-Über's own range of men's toiletry products, S&D. Also, the appeal of one of his pilots, Nami Mishima, helped the image of the team, as she had often been compared to the late Arial Tetsuo, Auricoms' lead pilot in the early years of AG racing. This has made her popular with young fans, but also the target of constant sabotage which has plagued her performance over the years.

Due to the increasing political pressure from the F9000, Van-Über followed Auricom's lead and withdrew from competition at the end of the 2169 season and returned to regional racing. However, the Fall of the F9000 a year later virtually halted all of Van-Über's activities. Whilst they still continued performing R&D work and produced craft for public consumption, the team was rapidly declining. Wolfgang would liquidate his share of the company and retired to a quiet life in the German countryside.

Van-Über was present at the AG Rebirth Festival in 2185 and express absolute delight when it was announced that AG racing was to return to prominence. However, he did show disappointment as he would not lead the charge to promote the "sublime and delicious game" in the new era of AG racing. His grandson, Helmut, would rebirth the team in the 2198 with his father's blessing to compete in the newly-formed FX300. Piloted by German-born American Daniel Albrecht and using a updated variant of their old F9000 model, the team enjoyed moderate success in this era culminating with Albrecht winning the title in 2202.

The team did not transition into the FX400, mainly due to the health of its founder. Approaching his centennial birthday, Wolfgang had become quite reserved from the media particularly with his team's victory in 2202. It appeared that Wolfgang had achieved his dream of "leading" a team to League success, so now he can spend the rest of his years in peace.

At age 105, Van-Über is one of the oldest AG champions still alive today (only beaten by 2126 Champion Mélissa Flament), but his pacifist beliefs and his extraordinary career makes him a true legend of AG racing, up there with names such as Muro, Tetsuo and the great Kel Solaar.

Woflgang Van-Über passed away peacefully in his Lower Saxony home on January 3 2214, beside family. His heath had deteriorated over the past few years, particularly over the past year, restricting him to the confounds of his home. A private burial was held on January 7th, followed by a public memorial the following day, which included numerous AG racing personalities, including the AGRC Chairwoman, Natasha Belmondo. Van-Über was 106.

*There are other reasons behind Van-Über's ideal, such as his Roman Catholic background and his admiration of primitive Formula One drivers as seen in old videos.


	10. 2164 Temtesh Bay Disaster

**2164 Temtesh Bay Disaster**

Because of its very nature, it's very rare in motor racing, and in turn AG racing, that an accident is so severe that it can rival other man-made disasters, such as Titanic or the Hindenburg. But by saying that, events like that do happen. The most famous is the 1955 Le Mans Disaster where the Mercedes-Benz of Pierre Leveigh crashed into a slower car and flew into the crowd, killing 84 and injuring 120 spectators. The nearest equivalent in AG racing would have to be the 2164 Temtesh Bay disaster. This disaster would cost the lives of six F9000 pilots plus a dozen emergency crews in what as seen as the culmination of the radical nature of that era of AG racing.

The Temtesh Bay track had always been a favourite of fans and pilots alike. Prior to 2164, Temtesh Bay was the only track to be used in every season of the F9000. Organised by the Australian business tycoon Bruce Bloomer, Temtesh Bay was constructed within an open-cut mine in central Australia and always had the flair synonymous with Bloomer. The designs were straightforward: a short track winding around the perimeter of the mine; a medium course which dived into the tunnels of the old mine; and to top it off, a weaving long course going up and down around Beehive Rock.

Of course, such a radical track caused some criticism. Kurt Graham, four time F7200 champion and design advisor for the new track was quite against having the track go through mine tunnels, emphasising the risk of cave-ins from the barrage of weapon that would be used in them. Despite his arguments, the medium course was built exactly to plan (although, Graham put a lot of effort in the design and construction of the long course, and was quite pleased with it).

The track (short course) opened the first F9000 race in 2156 with great acclaim, and ushered in the arrival of Natasha Belmondo to the F9000 scene. Year after year, the atmosphere around the Australian round was always buzzing. For those who would like to get out of the heat, the main festivities in nearby Adelaide were only an hour away by grav-train. All the while, the track remain unchanged despite some damage to some areas due to weapon use in races (there was only small repairs that, in hindsight, were less than adequate).

Coming into the Australian round of the 2164 season, Tibetan Piranha pilot Myima Tsarong held a slim lead ahead of the two Xios pilots, Natasha Belmondo and the previous year's champion, Zala Wollf. Also, Auricom's Pascale Rouser and FEISAR's Daniel Johnson score quite close to the frontrunners.

It was expected that this round, around Temtesh Bay's medium course, would be a very close one. In qualifying, Tsarong managed to score pole just ahead of Rouser, with the Xios pilots struggling with their wider crafts and placing 6th and 8th respectively.

On March 11 2164, the race got underway in a flurry of paint and metal as they entered the mines. Tsarong pulled a good lead followed by Rouser and Tigron's Omarr Khumala (started 5th). The only person that didn't start well was Australian FEISAR pilot (and great-nephew of Kurt Graham) Zack Graham. For some reason, his LS-59340 loss al power as soon as he hit the thrust. Graham had started in a low 12th. It was lucky for him that he stayed on the grid for him, or anyone else, could've expected what was next.

An explosion within the mines causes the whole tunnel to collapse towards the far end of the course. All communications between both the ships and officials were cut, so no-one knew what was going on. And then, amidst the confusion, there was a much larger explosion which sealed the race's fate. This larger explosion shook the whole mines and simultaneously collapsed every single tunnel of the track, entombing anyone that was in it. The time it took between the first explosions as the complete collapse of the mines was a fraction of a minute.

The race was immediately halted and everyone evacuated from the mines as rescue crews came in to dig for the missing pilots and officials trapped in the mines. Already out was Natasha Belmondo. She just got out as the last bulkhead locked shut (as were standard operating procedure of the mine, but the closing bulkhead had damaged the rear of her craft. So far, those pilots present and accounted for were Graham of FEISAR, both Van-Über pilots, both Auricom pilots, Khumala of Tigron, Belmondo of Xios and Tsarong of Piranha.

Luckily, this count grew after the first hour where rescue crews managed to dig out an injured Zala Wollf, followed by a severely injured Daniel Johnson and several officials. According to her accounts, she had stopped just before the second last bulkhead but had gotten caught in the mine collapse. Her refuge was an escape tunnel just off the track which the officials used to get themselves and Johnson (who was discovered towards the epicentre of the explosions) to where Wollf was. Wollf had relatively minor leg and neck injuries, but Johnson had become paralysed from the neck down.

Day after day went by, but with no further luck. Despite one or two other officials that were found but later died in hospital, no one else could be found. This meant that six of the 14 pilots of the F9000 had perished. In the cleanup, Wollf's Xios and a Tigron craft, with Sveta Kirovski still in it were found, but after a few close calls with loose rock and dirt, the cleanup was cancelled.

Following the disaster, the Australian Government and the Australian Federal police (AFP), in association with Confederation of Australian Anti-Gravity Racing (CAAR) and the AGF launched a Royal Commission into the disaster and investigated the event from all sides as it seemed that the disaster was a deliberate act. This Commission uncovered severe maintenance holes within the organisation of the event and, in turn, the League as a whole.

But to everyone's surprise, a week after the disaster, FEISAR's Director of Operations Xavier Menendez claimed full responsibility for the disaster on behalf of Daniel Johnson, who was in intensive care, and the FEISAR team. He revealed that just recently the F9000 Federation approved the use of a development of FEISAR's Super Missile. This new weapon didn't fire as much missiles as the old weapon, but had more explosive power than its predecessor. As it turned out, Johnson had picked up the Super Weapon and had aimed to take out Wollf but missed and the subsequent explosion on the wall caused the mines to collapse.

As such FEISAR were held as the main suspects for the disaster, but this did not explain the secondary explosions that were the overall catalyst of the entire mines collapsing. As a result, FEISAR were fined US$1 million dollars in damages for the disaster in addition to severe restrictions imposed on AG racing which saw Super Weapons banned indefinitely, all development of F9000 craft frozen and strict revisions of all F9000 tracks to make sure they're save to race. As such, several courses, such as Alca Vexus 2 and Cubiss Float 2 were abandoned.

It would be almost 20 years before the actual culprits were identified. In 2181, new sources claim that Chinese team EG-R played a role in the disaster in that they caused the main explosions in the mines. As such the Commission was reactivated and investigated the activities of the former EG-R, who by this time merged with Xios to form EG-X Technologies. As it turned out, anxious that their top secret technology would be exploited by rival teams, the team deliberately detonated their craft and pilots to cover up their technology. The size of these simultaneous explosions further dislodged the rock in the mines causing them to collapse. The investigation also uncovered that so determined were EG-R in concealing their tracks, they did the same thing after the F9000 fell in 2170. Although they ordered both China and EG-X to give up all those involved in the team, no-one has been brought in. Actually, no-one associated with the team had been seen since the fall of the F9000. (This gave Xios the perfect opportunity to gain control of the operations hence founding EG-X).

Despite the sheer tragedy of Temtesh Bay disaster, AG racing continued nevertheless. Wollf would return to AG racing in the Swiss round at Cubiss Float and all the other teams found replacements for their teams, eventually fielding a full pack for the 2165 season. However, as well as those who perished, Johnson would be permanently disabled whilst Wollf and Tsarong, distraught from the disaster, retired at the end of the 2164 season.

It's commonly accepted that the Temtesh Bay disaster started the descent of the F9000, eventuating in the Fall of the F9000 in 2170. But none the less, the sport has learned its lessons from that event and as such, there hasn't been a death in AG racing ever since.


	11. Qirex Research & Development

**Qirex Research & Development**

It's without a doubt that Qirex Research & Development deserves to be considered as one of the most famous teams in the history of AG racing, as well as the most successful. Although winning a record 39 Leagues is successful in itself, it's their journey from a domestic military contractor to a well respected anti-grvity research organisation is legendary. And at its forefront, some of the most iconic pilots and personnel ever involved in the sport.

The original Qirex Industries was founded from the merger of two companies: Quantax CFD and Irkutsk Nuclear Developments, by Russian businessman Sergei Reznikov in 2017('QI' for Quantax-Irkutsk, 'REx' for Reznikov). Originally, Qirex was an industrial conglomerate with a stake in the majority of Russia's industries, from transport to economics to manufacturing. They were also contractors for the Russian military.

When anti-gravity technology exploded in the mid 2030s, Qirex was very interested in the new technology and started development. However, their early developments were quite primitive in comparison to other period designs. Basically, they were adaptations of AG System's patented AG generator for a variety of operations.

When the AGRC was announced in 2044, Qirex quickly expressed interest for competing but were still struggling with the quality of their crafts compared to that of AG Systems and other companies. Salvation came in the form of Holst McQueen, the former head of technology of AG Systems. McQueen had been dismissed from AG Systems because of his hostile rivalry with Delia Flaubert, the former head of design, over the direction AG Systems should be heading. This cost them both their jobs at AG Systems. McQueen argued that AG System's constant research and development were preventing them reaching the massive financial potential of the technology. When he heard that Flaubert was establishing her own orgainisation based on her ideals (of Pierre Belmondo), McQueen went to Qirex to develop their AG sector.

In the three years in the lead-up to the first AGRC season, Qirex had evolved from a local industrial conglomerate to one of the most prolific organisations in the world because of McQueen's designs. Qirex also managed to acquire a number of talented, yet unorthodox pilots in the lead up to the 2048 season. One of which was fomer Russian Air Force pilot, Kel Solaar.

The former Major had a long desire to reach the sky from an early age. As such, he immedialy joined the airforce after graduating from school and trained to be one of the best pilots the Russian air force had seen. As well as this, he also was a formidable weapons expert, which would make him a lethal enemy if anyone approached him.

When Qirex first started their AG racing program, Solaar left the air force and became the main Qirex test pilot. What was quite notable of him was his ability to control the heavy Qirex ship with reletive ease considering the opposition. It didn't really matter that Qirex ships couldn't beat everyone in a straight line, Solaar would anniliate the competition through corners and his strategic use of weapons to slow down opposing craft. It was not surprise when Solaar claimed the first AG racing pilots championship in 2048.

Whilst Solaar was 'bringing home the bacon' on the track, there were quite a few events happening behind the scenes. McQueen had manoevered himself through the ranks of Qirex to eventually becoming CEO in 2052, following Reznikov's retirement. Whilst McQeen was in power, the focus of Qirex shifted to become an AG research-only company determined to deter Flaubert's Auricom Research. A lot of people believed this was the motivation behind Qirex's acquisition by the Ovetel media organisation three years later.

It was this rivalry between McQueen and Flaubert that created the intense rivalry between Qirex and Auricom, This was particulary evident in the earlier years of AG racing. Both pilots form both teams rivalled each other for differing reasons, in particular the Tetsuo twins Arial and Arian, the latter affilited with Qirex. The twins were raised and in turn started their careers in vastly contrasting backgrounds: Arial was very popular with the crowd and was discovered by Auricom because of her success in the AG Youth League of Japan; Arian was a street racer before she was hired by Qirex. This bitter feud also elevated off the track where Qirex, quite infamously, lauched a smear campaign against Arial ranging from formal cheating to more serious allegations. Qirex were formally accused of blackmail in 2060 and fined an undisclosed sum. Whether this worked or not, this did not deter either Qirex's performance or reputation.

In fact this period, specifically during the 2060s & 2080s, were the greatest in Qirex's history and cementing their place as the most successsful team in AG racing history. After Auricom dominated the 2058 and '59 seasons with their revolutionary dual-hulled design, Qirex were determined to rise above them with their own dual-hull craft. Using a development of the infamous "barzha" of the AGRC, Qirex and Solaar scored 7 consectutive championships between 2060 and 2066, including a 19 race winning streak from 2060-62.

Solaar and Qirex were an icon, so it was expected that Solaar's retirement after the 2068 season was an emotional one for all those involved. Solaar had become a hero of the Russian people, and was admired with an almost cult-like status. But despite the media frenzy behind him, Solaar disappeared from the limelight thereafter (he would reappear during the 2090s).

Solaar may be gone, but Qirex still continued as strong as ever. To replace Solaar, Qirex hired former FEISAR and Auricom pilot Sofia de la Rente on a year-by-year basis. The combination of de la Rente and Qirex number two Arian Tetsuo would give Qirex another League in 2069 before retiring herself.

At this point, Qirex first tasted serious competition. With the surge from the Japanese AG Systems outfit, Qirex was relegated to the midpack, even last for a number of years. This wasn't helped with their line-up consiting of the under-performing Arian Tetsuo (who would be left without a seat in 2072) and the "Mad Matador" Matteo Munoz. This started to change when Konstantin Rykov joined the team to replace Tetsuo in 2073. Throughout the next few seasons, Rykov was constantly near the front, even scoring a League title in 2075. His battles with AG Systems' Nobuyuki Sato during 2076 cemented his place as one of the great Qirex pilots, loved by all sides (even Auricom). When he left the team the following year, his number one spot was passed down to Finn Makku Eerik, who would (start) to bring Qirex back in front by scoring consectutive titles in 2078 and '79.

The man who would bring Qirex back to the forefront of AG racing was Scot Michael McLeod. McLeod had, in fact, replaced Rykov when he left for Auricom in 2077, and had potential to be a title contender despite his mid-pack finishes. These were proved right when he pushed to become the 2082 champion ahead of Jean Dreyfus for Auricom. McLeod would continue to battle and take the next four Leagues, all the while fighting against a young German FEISAR pilot by the name of Stefan Geist.

Geist had been branded a title contender from the start: he managed to score third in his first season with FEISAR in 2083. And he had continued to pushed for the title, coming into grief with McLeod and the Qirex team more times than he would've liked. But alas, both McLeod had the upmost respect for his German rival, and was more than happy to have him as a teammate in the first F5000 League in 2085. This dynamic parnership would give Qirex four more titles with McLeod and Geist winning two each. Geist would take over McLeod's number one seat after he retired at the end of 2088 and continued to win for the team into the 2090s. By the time Geist retired in 2093, Qirex had won 26 Leagues, over double that of all the other teams combined.

Things were even better for Qirex when Geist's place in the team was filled by Konstantin Rykov's own daughter, Alisa. Raised through Qirex's own pilot development program (a rare feat), Alisa started small inside the field during her first few seaons with the team and started to mature by scoring sixth in the 2099 season. By the turn of the century, Alisa was Qirex's only chance at a title as their other aging pilots, Vladimir Tuchyon and Andrew Zao, were falling by the waistside. Alisa did just that in 2101 quite comfortably, and the image of both her and her father on the podium together at Spilskinanke still remains one of the most famous images of family involvement in the sport.

However, Alisa's success was overshadowed by the tragedies that stemmed from the introduction of Phantom class in 2097, which caused the deaths of three pilots and would paralyze Kumiko Takahashi (Champion 2097, '98 ) from the waist down. Although saddened from these tragedies, Alisa's resolve was to keep racing and that the sport should continue to move forward and not dwell on the past. Her title the following year made sure of that,and successfully pushed on to take the following two Leagues as well, surpassing her father's record in the process. Alisa would continue to fight hard, but her performance was, once again, overshadowed by this time the in-house rivalry at AG Systems between Belarussian-born Russian Zmitar Tikotsky and Australian David Colquhoun. She would score two third placed finished before retiring in 2108.

At this point, Qirex's stranglehold on the sport was at an end and would see many changes over the next few decades. For one, Qirex had evolved from a military contracter to a premier AG research and development organisation. As such in 2111, Qirex officially changed their name from "Qirex Industries" to "Qirex Research and Development" to reflect this new focus. Also, the rise of new teams such as Piranha and Assegai Developments would demote the team to the level of their competitors, and would see stiff competition as the league was upgraded to F7200 specification. They did enjoy some success in this League, with Laura Kohlemainen taking the first F7200 League in 2116 and Australian Austen Graham (the twin brother of AG Systems' Kurt Graham) would give Qirex four Leagues between 2119 and 2122.

Qirex's biggest change in this era was the change in ownership. Following Pierre Belmondo's death in 2128, Overtel heavily lobbied for control over the F7200 Commission (which was in direct control of the Belmondo Foundation), but was restircted because of their support for the Qirex team. As such, Overtel re-organised Qirex as a self-supported independent entity so that they can concentrate their efforts towards the Commission, achieving that in 2132. The transition left Qirex in a highly solvent state to the envy of just about every other outfit in the league. The team still kept a firm presence on the field, with pilots such as Johan Janson and Georgy Alkaev scoring respectable finished along the way (the latter taking the 2143 League for the team with George Dravare), and it seemed that Qirex could've been very stable for the decades ahead.

But in 2145, the Russian economy collapsed. Struck by a reduction in farmable land along with the slowing down of local industry saw the country rapidly falling into debt. This was effected by Qirex as well, slumping to some of their worst performances in years (part in due of ot having the funds to hire talented pilots. Alkaev, who stayed on by his own accord, still kept scoring point finishes). Over the next few years, a depression had set in and created the best conditions for a takeover.

Early in 2149, a criminal faction known as the "The Brotherhood" overthrew the Russian Government and re-proclaimed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics along with Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan (all with Brotherhood governments). The Brotherhood immediately took over all of Russia's industries, both private and public, into a single "legitimate" front called Tigron Enterprises. Qirex was unceremoniusly absorbed into the Enterprise and made up Tigron's AG research sector. The racing team was renamed Tigron for 2150, which also saw the introduction of their own craft that used Qirex technology. A number of Qirex staff lost their jobs, and an even larger amount were suspectedly kidnapped from other professions to work on the Tigron craft. Howerver, the agressive methods Tigron used, both on and off the track, made Tigron one of the more favorited teams of the F7200/F9000 League. Tigron's antics (which also involved corruption iwth the F9000 Federation) lead to Tigron's downfall in 2170 in the Fall of the F9000. The Brotherhood's government fell soon after, leaving the former Qirex facilities derelect.

But salvation came in the form of businessman Feliks Levovich. Levovich (born Feliks Stanovich) was born in 2140 and was the son of Qirex engineer, Lev. Lev had a great passion for everything Qirex, which he distilled into his son at an early age. Feliks was with Lev during the last race of the 2149 season, the last race for Qirex befor the change into Tigron for the next season. Taking the opportunity to retire, Lev spent his remaining years restoring a damaged 2127 Quantax Model 9 (used by Austen Graham) with his son assisting after school. Sadly, Lev's health deteriorated over the years and he would succumb to heart failure in the winter of 2162.

Meanwhile, Feliks had moved to the United Kingdom where he studied to become an entrepreneur with the goal to be involved in the management of AG racing. But to much of his luck, the F9000 fell as he was starting out with his professional career, so therefore, the effects of the fallout did not effect him very hard. Re-emerging two years later, Feliks (who had changed his surname to Levovich, after his father) successfully purchased the old Qirex-Tigron facilities and moved the two craft his father had left him (the Model 9 and a 2060s Model 6, piloted by Kel Solaar). Througout the depression, he kept himself busy by restoring old Qirex craft using parts from the factory. By 2179, he had restored 16 models.

In that year, Levovich purchased and re-estabalish Qirex as an entity under his control and started maufacturing replacement parts for other Qirex enthusiasts. This proved to be fruitful with the rise of amateur AG racing during the 2180s. Levovich was present at the Anti-Gravity Rebirth Festival in 2185, where he displayed his collection of craft and promoted his brand. Eventually, the demand for parts and entire crafts had grown to such an extent, Levovich managed to employ engineering staff and restart production of Qirex craft for the first time in almost 40 years.

Levovich was also an avid supporter of the FX150 Amateur League, supporting many pilots who used the old Qirex ships (and to a lesser extent, Tigron). When the FX300 League was announced in 2195, Levovich re-established the Qirex team and began designing a whole new craft. One key element he wanted was to make his new craft more balanced than the old Quantax models, partially because he didn't had the astronomical funding of the old team but he wanted the craft to be more accessable to pilots of average skill. In 2197, the first new Qirex was revealed for the first time. Designated LS97 in memorium of his late father, the craft was breath-taking, using a curved dual-hull that made it aerodynamic as well as lighter than it's predeccessor. In pre-season testing, it constantly rose above the opposition without it being quite bullish.

Another welcome for the new team was the hiring of Adam Reznikov as the pilot. Reznikov was a descendent of the original founder of Qirex, Sergei Reznikov, a fact that was pointed out by Levovich when he was introduced to Reznikov. Reznikov had met Levovich some years prior to the FX300 through the FX150 where he piloted an older FEISAR craft in some European events. Quite impressed with Reznikov's style, Levovich signed him up as Qirex's test and FX300 pilot.

The partnership between the LS97 and Reznikov proved successful. In it's first year of competition, Reznikov found himself in stiff competition angainst Alistair Hunter of the new Triakis team. But managed to scrape ahead on race wins to take the first FX300 title that year. This success was to continue with two more titles within the next three years, as well as consistant high-placed finishes in the seasons following. By the end of the FX300, Qirex had firmly established themselves as a strong contender in this new era of racing.

Whist this new Qirex became a force in its own right, there was no denying its period under the "Tigron" banner. Levovich was uninterested in the old team, even detesting it so much he either destroyed most of the Tigron name from his facility and refused to recreate new models (he did produce replacement parts for the old craft for enthusiasts). However one final Tigron craft, the BULL-666 v5.0, remained from the old facility and never been raced. Initially all for the craft's destruction, it wasn't before the intervention of Denis Kosma, Qirex' lead engineer, who suggested to use the craft as a training ship for pilots to get accustomed to heavier ships. This ship raced under many pilot's hands (including current Qirex pilot Nadia Elenova) before it was scrapped after the FX300 League finished in 2206.

Also, as with it's predecessor, controversy surrounded the Russian outfit. The first came from FEISAR, who sued Qirex over the use of the "LS" initials in their craft name, which FEISAR had been using since the start of the sport. Instead of simply changing the name, Levovich lobbied and comprimised hard so he can keep the LS initials. Eventually, Levovich settled to an undisclosed sim to FEISAR and the restiction that he can only us the initials if it's immediately followed by a year number (e.g. 2207 would be "07"), whilst FEISAR would continue to use the LS-XXXX designation.

Another controversy was the rise of Quantax Dynamics. Natalia Yarochevskaya, one of the old engineers for Qirex, was not happy with the new designed Levovich had created, and that it went against the tried and tested Quantax models going back as far as the AGRC. Infuriated that her concerns were ignored, she set up her own team based on the old Quantax schematics. Although very stressed for money (getting corporate sponsorship from PUMA), she was determined to proved her point and eventually became a thorn in the side for Levovich. When the Quantax team start to score points in the series, Levocich decided from a compromise. Needing a ship for the FX350/400 Leagues, he agreed to used the old Quantax designs, but they were to use technology from the FX300 craft so it remained a balanced craft. Satisfied, Yarochevskaya shut down the team at the end of the FX300 and partnered with Levovich with the new craft.

Lastly, this new Qirex seems to have dulled their extremily bitter rivalry with Auricom, who was still strong under the leadership of former FX150 pilot Jesse Fairbank. In a recent interview with the AG Network, Levovich maintains that the focus of Qirex is not to create a spectacle of the sport, but to simply be the best team out there. Fairbank shares this same view and acknowledges that Levovich's Qirex is indeed not the old Overtel Qirex. But still, their rivalry for on-track dominance still remains, and may it always remain. In one way, the rivalry between McQueen and Flaubert still lives on to this day.


	12. PUMA Delta Leagues 2205-6

**PUMA Delta Leagues 2205-6**

The re-emergence of AG racing by way of the FX300 was a major boom for sponsors as well as the competitors and fans of the League. Although small at the start, these gradually grew and by the time of the FX400 many companies supported the League through product partnerships, such as Jap Energy Drink's partnership with FEISAR, all the way through to League sponsors such as ICOM Communications. But by far the most extravagant, and oldest sponsorships came from shoe company PUMA.

PUMA was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler after a falling out with his brother, Adolf, which led to the two splitting their shoe company between them. Adolf's half became Adidas (an anagram of his nickname "Adi" and DASsler) whilst Rudolf's half became RUDA (RUdolf DAssler) before changing to PUMA. As such, PUMA and Adidas were fierce rivals for some years as private companies before being sold off to larger conglomerates after their founders' deaths. But both companies became world renowned and became one of the top sporting companies in the world (behind American Nike and British Reebok).

However, as time passed, changing tastes and market trends saw most of these brands decline over the next century some of which disappeared entirely (such as Adidas). PUMA was not immune from this trend also, gradually declining to manufacturing sporting shoes and clothing for competition use. Eventually, they diverted into research & development to investigate new technologies within their products.

In the mid-22nd century, PUMA pioneered "Speed Legs" for Major League Football use. These bionic legs, patterned of hoofs from a racing horse, allowed players to run, jump and manoeuvre to lengths never before seen in the sport (much more than the high-spring derivatives that had been used since the 21st century). This saw a rebirth in the company, and helped them survive the 2170s depression resulting from the fall of the F9000. PUMA went to strength to strength in producing and promoting this and other related products and before long, they were the leading apparel company in the world (in close rivalry with 2nd Skin).

With the re-emergence of AG racing at the end of the century, the executives at PUMA saw this as a prime area to branch into and began their association with the sport. At first, they produced pilots' suits for smaller teams such as Van-Über and Goteki 45, before deciding to take it to the next level and sponsor the League. This was unsuccessful. Disgruntled, they went and upped their presence in the league by heavily sponsoring the Al-Vaskei and Quantax team for entry into the 2204 FX300 League. This proved to be a fruitless venture with neither team being very successful during their respective tenures in the league. In fact, Al-Vaskei has one of the worst finishing rates by percentage in racing history (second only to Icaras).

But their most extravagant act was to come. During 2204, PUMA went to the FX300 Commission again, this time proposing a series of exhibition races to be run before the annual season starts. Somewhat more throughout than their previous venture, they stated that the series would seriously promote both the League and the PUMA brand around the world as well as provide an equal, friendly ground for the pilots to race on without team orders or reputations at stake. After serious convincing, the Commission eventually allowed the series on the provision it was to be organised mainly by the Commission in co-operation with PUMA executives.

As such, the first PUMA Delta League was hosted on New Year's Day in Vineta's Entertainment Hub nearby Sinucit. Fans were divided over the design of the first track, named "Iridia" either admiring the semi-technical corners or the near vertical banking or disgusted over the amount of PUMA advertising adorning the track side. All those differences were put aside one the main attractions came into view. The line-up was the same from the previous year, except for the introduction of two new teams, both heavily sponsored and promoted by PUMA: Al-Vaskei Racing Developments, based in Saudi Arabia; and Quantax Dynamics, a Russian team instantly rivalling Qirex by using the old Quantax designs that Qirex used before their absorption into Tigron Enterprises in 2149.

It was expected that the reigning champion, Elena Yakubu of Assegai, would get off to a good start having clinched the League a few months before. However, the predominately easy track did not play to the Assegai's strengths and Yakubu ended up starting 5th for the race. As such, the faster teams, such as Triakis and Auricom, took the advantage of the fast track and posted fastest times. To a lot of people's surprise, David Diaz managed to score pole for Auricom; he was followed by Vincent Stephenson for Triakis and Thanos Ikrausus for FEISAR.

The first race got off spectacularly with Stephenson and Ferrai controlling the lead, followed closely by "Le Blur Rouge" Amy Senand (started 4th) and Ikrausus. This scrap continued for a few laps until a lucky plasma bolt by Auricom's David Diaz debilitated both Ferrai and Senand, placing them far behind the leaders. Some more aggressive piloting by Diaz eventually saw Stephenson fall back, despite that military shielding. Diaz looked set for a win, but didn't consider the small FEISAR of Ikrausus biding his time behind the Auricom. A quick missile on the last lap saw Ikrausus push past Diaz, and held him off to take the first race of the cup with Stephenson behind them both in third.

The rest of the season saw a constant competition between Ikrausus, Diaz, Stephenson and Ferrai with Senand and Harimau's Ronald Wong putting pressure on the top trio. At the next round on the split-tracked Anulpha Pass, Diaz pulled a good lead from the start and comfortably took out the race ahead of Ikrausus by one second. However, Ikrausus fought back at Koltiwa managing to fight back to a victory after a dismal qualifying (qualified in 6th), as well as Diaz being unlucky enough to have been bombarded with a rocket and a bomb on the third lap, cutting his dominant lead.

Coming into the final round at Khara Descent, notable for its stepped back straight and guard-less inner edge, Ikrausus was leading Diaz by two points; their nearest opponent was Stephenson on 14 points. Unfortunately, what was expected to be a closely fought battle between the two leaders reached an anti-climax on the first lap: starting in third, Diaz was unlucky enough to have been hit with a quake just after hitting a string of mines deployed by Tauban Ferrai (started 2nd). Struggling to keep up with the front runners, Diaz had to settle for fourth, giving up the PUMA Delta League to Ikrausus.

The 2205 FX300 was expected to be similar to the results of the Delta League, with Ikrausus leading FEISAR into a second season of glory. In fact, all of the front runners of the Delta League underperformed. Ikrausus achieved podiums in the first two races of the season, but became a mid-pack runner throughout the year, eventually placing 5th, 9 points ahead of Stephenson.

That season was dominated by old rivals Senand (Piranha) and Adam Reznikov (Qirex), along with Andrew Dekka (AG Systems) and Liam Reid (Icaras). This was also reflected during the next Delta League in 2206. At the first round at Iridia, Amy Senand achieved a splendid victory with Maxim Tsyzyrev giving Quantax its second (and last) podium by finishing second, and Reznikov filling the podium in third. At the next Anulpha Pass, the all-too common sight of Senand versus Reznikov was showing, with both pilots taking the top two places respectively, with Dekka in third by two seconds.

The next race at Koltiwa became quite an interesting race as at first a clear winner was hard to guess. Both Reznikov and Senand were obvious choices, but face stiff competition by third placed Liam Reid and Elena Yakubu of Assegai, with the latter managing to qualify second half a second behind Reznikov. The next couple of places comprised of Senand, Reid and Daniel Albrecht of Van-Über, all within a second of each other. During the race, Yakubu got off to a good start but struggled to stay ahead, eventually falling back to 5th within the first lap. She would manage to pass Albrecht to take fourth. Senand, Reznikov and Reid all shared the lead over the course of the race. Starting the last lap, it seemed that Reid would deliver Icaras their first win since returning to AG racing, but a rocket attack from Reznikov denied him of that. Reznikov would win that race, followed by Senand and Reid.

Going into the final race, Reznikov, Senand and Reid were separated by only 3 points so, like last year, the League could've been anyone's. Liam Reid of Icaras made his intentions clear by qualifying first for the race, narrowly beating Reznikov. During the race, Reid tried to pull a strong lead over Reznikov and Senand, but found himself in trouble after a quake by Maxim Tsyzyrev's Quantax. Force on the defensive because of the Icaras' poor shielding, he quickly found himself passed by Reznikov. But, now in the lead, Reznikov now found himself pressured by the other two leaders. It went down to the wire as the remaining laps fell, but the perseverance typical of Russian Rockets showed as Reznikov held off Reid and Senand to take the race and the League by four points.

This stiff battle during the Delta League trickled its way into the season, but it was mainly behind a dominant Triakis team, who would take a clean season before being disqualified due to the Reverse-inertia Deceleration System on their crafts.

Despite the success of the Delta Leagues socially, it didn't translate into profits for PUMA, who decided to pull out of the sport completely when the sport was upgraded to FX400 specification. This wasn't helped by Al-Vaskei's liquidation and Quantax's absorption into Qirex. However, their contribution to the AGRC had been impressive, with more interest by outside sponsors in the sport. Also, the Anulpha Pass track was chosen over the other Delta League tracks as the permanent configuration for the entertainment hub for use during FX350 League events.


	13. Origins of AG Technology

The development of anti-gravity technology is one of the most important technological breakthroughs in the history of the 21st century, from both a technological and scientific perspectives. Such a massive event almost didn't happen if it wasn't for the financial and political pressure put on to all those involved in the technology, but the perseverance of some members of the project, such as Pierre Belmondo and Chuck Hoffman saw this dream to finally become reality.

During 2017 and 2018, the US Government and other governments received many reports of UFOs sighted in desolate areas of the world, such as the Tule desert in Nevada. However, an interesting difference with these UFOs is that they hovered over the ground rather than saucer-like objects in the sky. Curiosity spurring around these objects influenced Dr. Gunnar Anglert, head of the World Technology Symposium (founded 1995) to make this announcement:

[I]"It is clear that many sightings of UFOs are not hoaxes of any kind. We know this because many of the flying objects are in fact anti-gravity machines developed to enhance weaponry capabilities. In deciding to declare the existence of this technology, we are hoping we can open it up to development by scientists with peaceful intent." [/I]

As outlined in his speech, it was revealed that certain governments of the world had been in development of anti-gravity technology for military use in secret for a number of years. However, in part due to the slow development of a feasible prototype, the international governments and the Symposium came to the decision to release this information to the world in an effort to speed up development by commercialising the research.

Inspired, several institutions and companies started anti-gravity research and development project of their own or joined with other companies to share development. The most prominent of these was the World Anti-Gravity Research Congress (WARC), formed by the Symposium several months after the declassification of AG technology. The Congress was a cooperative and governing body comprised of several national agencies and institutions, including:

• National Commission for Anti-Gravity Research (USA), established by NASA

• Japanese Anti-Gravity Congress, established by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

• Brazilian Academy of Sciences

• Beihang University in association with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (China)

• Foundation for European Anti-Gravity Research

Each organisation works on their own AG project and uses the Congress to exchange ideas and assist each other body. The idea was that an international cooperation would co-develop working AG technology in relatively quick time. However, this initially went as far as various case studies and simple experiments with no solid development whatsoever. In a later interview with Chuck Hoffman, the Symposium knew that actual development of feasible AG technology was several decades off, so the establishment of the Congress was like a head start in that field.

This completely changed the day Pierre Belmondo arrived at the Foundation for European Anti-Gravity Research. Despite dropping out of the Federal European University in his first year, Belmondo was already such a genius on gravitational physics that his tutors forwarded him on to the Foundation. Belmondo's contribution to the Foundation and to the Congress as a whole was profound. He was able to investigate and solve various studies within a matter of months whereas the Foundation before would've taken a year or two at least, not ignoring the fact Belmondo was still a teenager.

The developments in AG technology rose exponentially with Belmondo leading the way, with Belmondo taking over as head of the Foundation in early 2024, at the young age of 20. However, a major act would halt their research. On November 24th, the Symposium shut down the Congress out of the blue. They claimed that after extensive reviews on all members of the Congress spanning over a couple of years, the Symposium saw that the rate of development didn't justify the cost to support the project and that their current developments were unsuitable for mass-transport systems.

Despite the well supported evidence against AG technology, the pioneers didn't believe this was true, considering that the data the Symposium had analysed in fact proved that AG technology was suitable for mass transport systems and that working prototypes would be built within a few years. To the pioneers, it was clear that there were other forces behind the Symposium and its decision. This suspicion was heightened when the US government announced a massive tax on conventional fuels, as it was suggested that the governments of the world had too much to lose if AG technology was implemented.

Belmondo was fuming over the decision. And after an urgent meeting with the Foundation, he decided to continue his development nonetheless. Two days later, a message was circulated around the former Congress members from Chuck Hoffman of the US team:

[I]"Suggest we reject Symposium proposals. Sufficient interest exists in US team to continue research. Circulate memo worldwide."[/I]

And so, the former-Congress secretly carried on with AG research defiantly, albeit significantly downsized due to the lack of government funding and reorganization of some personnel. Pioneers from the Chinese and Brazilian teams forced to relocate to neighboring teams with threats of imprisonment if they continued AG research in their own country. So secret was their research, that most of the details of their work remain unknown to this day. But despite this, several governments had knowledge that this research was still going, and they still had interest in AG technology for military use.

Knowing that the 'rebel' teams were going to fully develop the technology long before the official teams, the Symposium and its representative governments attempted to take it from the scientist when the time was right. On October 21st, 2034, a highly organised propaganda campaign was initiated to undermine the so-called "AG Community". Allegation of misuse of funds under the pretense of research ruined the reputation the teams had made. Belmondo was driven into hiding to escape the angry mobs who accused Belmondo of 'stealing' their money.

To shake off this rap, the pioneers were determined to showcase a prototype of the AG generator to prove that the technology is possible and that they did not waste the money they were given. On April 14th, 2035, Belmondo and the pioneers prepared to demonstrate a prototype AG craft, the Nx1000, only to a select number of sympathetic journalists in the middle of the Nevada desert. Despite the presence of government spies, Belmondo himself piloted the prototype into the history books as being the first person to successfully pilot an anti-gravity craft.

The world stood in awe as news of the test spread around the world. It was finally proven that AG technology was a functioning, cheaper alternative to conventional fuels. The US government and several other governments abolished the massive tax on conventional fuels, under pressure from the media and within a year, a number of companies had contracted the various research bodies for them to provide, build or develop AG generators. New companies dedicated to developing AG technology started to appear, such as AG Systems. All the while, the World Technology Symposium was constantly accused and investigated over unlawful sabotaging the work of the former WARC. These constant accusations eventually saw the Symposium implode with the Symposium's closure. AS stated by Belmondo himself "Scientists who allow politicians to rule their heads and hearts deserve all the torment they get."


	14. EG-X Technologies

**EG-X Technologies****: An unusual-yet-expected merger**

Albeit short, the history of EG-X Technologies is quite an interesting one, twined with mystery. Quite an unusual team, this combination of two of the most prolific teams of the F9000 era have arisen to become potentially a strong team in the upcoming FX400 Leagues. On one side, we had the strong yet over-competent Xios International from Finland, and the other the very enigmatic Chinese EG-R Technologies team. However, these seemingly contrasting identities proved to make EG-X a "dark horse" of the new grid.

The earliest record of either company was the founding of Xios in 2136. The initial company was incorporated as Xios Oyj after a deal made with smaller Greek and Finnish companies, both specialising in manufacturing. To honour the Greeks, the new company was named after the Greek Aegean Island of Chios (roughly translated as Xios). About a year later, the company absorbed a key European munitions company and was reincorporated as Xios International, to reflect their international focus.

In only a small number of years, Xios grew to be one of the most prolific defence companies of the world, butting head with rival company Triakis on a number of occasions. The key difference between them and their Australian rivals was the emphasis on overall weapon design over practical performance on the field (in similar vain to the difference between a Harimau and Triakis). As such, many nations around the world used Xios' weapon systems.

The hallmark technology that Xios developed was the Leech Beam (or energy drain as it was known). Although the technology had been around before, Xios were truly the first to pursue it and made a huge impact of it. Not surprising, Xios were given a key weapon contract for the F7200 in 2140 when the previous contractor's contract ran out. Xios' weapons helped to escalate the penchant of on-track violence that would become the sport's character for the F9000.

When the F9000 was announced in 2150, Xios expressed interest in joining despite having little experience in this type of vehicular warfare. They formed an AG racing division within a few months and hired ex-FEISAR test pilot Sampsa Kovalainen to supervise the division (using similar methods used by FEISAR). After years of development, the first racing Xios, the SMF-X I was unveiled at Xios' headquarters in Vantaa, Finland at the end of 2155. With pilots consisting of FEISAR graduate Sigrid Nikula and British rookie Brodie Quick, the team seemed very optimistic with their chances.

However, things didn't go according to plan (by their accounts). Their first season by normal accounts seemed respectable, with Nikula and Quick comfortably placing higher in the midpack most times, and a podium for Nikula cemented fourth for the team. However, the team yearned for more. It was known that Xios would vary with different designs to find a good combination that would guarantee them top spot. As Nikula kept succeeding, Quick was falling behind and was eventually sacked at the end of 2158.

What Xios needed was a pilot that would catapult them to the top step of AG racing overnight. This came in the form of a Belmondo: Natasha Belmondo. Keeping up her brilliant run from Auricom, she dominated the 2159 season being consistently on the podium, which included two wins. The good performance from Nikula backed Belmondo well, and helped give Xios its first League victory. The image of Xios was turned on its head, and almost immediately the Director-General of Xios, Didier Humeau, began allocating more resources on the team believing that this was the best exposure for the company (not to mention it made him quite wealthy).

Whilst Xios were ravishing in their triumphs, another team was lurking behind the scenes. At the inaugural F9000 team presentations in January 2156, a quiet Chinese team presented their basic intentions to compete in the sport, provided only the necessary documentations to the F9000 Federation, and quietly left. They did a similar thing with the opening race at Katmoda 12 two months later. This team was EG-R Technologies. Despite coming in quite quietly into the sport with no clear intentions, they were a blistering sight on the field, with consecutive third placed finishes, making it the best start to a season for a new team in AG racing history, and going on to take third in their first season.

Curious, the F9000 Federation requested EG-R to supply more information of them if they want to compete in the 2157 season. EG-R famously defeated them in court, referencing the World Peace Council's amendment to the Universal Declaration of Sporting Rights. They were forced to let them compete, but this didn't stop the Federation from attempting to retrieve information from them. Most famously was when EG-R reported to have captured six Interpol agents from their facility in China in 2159. They handed the agents over under the condition that no further attempts on EG-R's identity are to be made or they'll face 'destructive power' they can conjure up 'at will'.

Thus, the only information of EG-R that remains known are their ships and their pilots, with the latter viewed with suspicion because of their complex augmentation. This made it unclear that the pilots were piloting the craft out of their own free will (which, if they weren't, would be in breach of human rights). Even their identities were questionable. One example was EG-R's first pair of pilots, Paul Cheung and Alex Reece, with the former having no recollections prior to a high-spirited party a few years ago, and Reece a victim of the 2159 European Butter Riots.

Nevertheless, they were a very consistent team, always running within the mid-pack. They never won a team's championship, but they were never dead last either. A credit to this is the compatibility between the craft and pilots to an extent were it was the envy to teams such as Piranha. This combination of ambiguity and on track success made EG-R quite popular for a mid-pack team, a unique character in a circus of personalities. After the infamous 2164 Temtesh Bay disaster, where both Cheung and Reece "perished" in, the team withdrew from the sport without a trace, but they were met with celebration when they returned for the 2166 season.

Both Xios and EG-R kept up with their mantras and fully supported the League until its fall in October 2170. Naturally, both teams were brought under the spotlight as possible suspects in Overtel's massive corruption ring. Although they seemed not to have been involved in Overtel's activities, they were not completely innocent either. EG-R kept up its ambiguous appearance, whilst Xios remained tight lipped about any corruption but maintained their innocence. Both teams would disappear from the public eye as the effects of the fall set in.

But surprisingly, two years later, both companies had merged to form EG-X Technologies. Primarily based in Finland with Chinese connections, the company never disclosed the circumstances of their merger, although it is strongly speculated that Xios had more of an interest in the merger, considering that the EG-X main base is in Finland and the management is basically Xios but combined with elements of EG-R. The company would slowly rebuild their reputation through the intense research and development of many aerodynamic and neurological applications for the next 3 decades.

Their interest in AG racing didn't return until the reestablishment of the FX300 in 2197. In keeping with their mysterious profile, they initially turned away any speculation for a return to AG racing; at least, until the FX350/400 Leagues were announced in 2202. EG-X immediately announced their intentions to re-enter the sport and started on craft development immediately. As of 2205, several prototypes had already been tested and a commercial model was nearing completion. In contrast to their Chinese predecessors, EG-X provided the FX300 Race Commission full details of their ships and pilots, but still remained tight-lipped about their overall goals. This led to many AG circles to raise many suspicions over the team, in similar style to EG-R 50 years prior.

During the first FX350 League in 2206, EG-X consistently placed midfield, even leading at some points of the race. A big coup for the team's FX400 campaign came with the signing of 2206 FX300 champion Andrew Dekka after his controversial resignation from AG Systems. Dekka's introduction to EG-X saw the potential of the team skyrocket to become a serious threat for the League title. It seemed that way at the first round of the 2207 FX400 in Finland, their home turf. Qualifying 2nd, Dekka seemed to be giving the old teams a run for their money until an unexpected plasma from Nadia Elenova's Qirex saw Dekka eliminated for the race. This event cause massive shockwaves in the AG society and, followed by some sub-par midfield finished over the next few round, created doubts over the true strength of the Sino-Finnish outfit.

Their inaugural FX400 season saw the Dekka finishing 5th (despite two podiums), which was not welcomed kindly within the team. In fact, after the final race of the season at Talon's Junction, there was not a sound from the team throughout the offseason until the opening round of the 2208 season 4 months later. This time around, they were more successful with 6 podiums, including a win in Japan, which would see them just edge out Qirex for second. After a further couple of years with not much success, they would place second again in 2211 behind Nadia Elenova in one of the closest battles in the FX era.

It's hard to say how will this team will continue their position in the FX400, considering their inconsistent performance. Rumours are that this season would be Dekka's last as his ever present temper and incoming old age would make him unfit to continue racing, at least with this team. But, for a team as secretive as EG-X, who knows?


	15. 2213 Review

**2213 Review**

The 2213 FX400 Anti-Gravity Racing League was the 135th running of the Anti-Gravity Racing Championships and the seventh running of the current FX400 formula. It was also the last season of the original FX400, with the crafts being replaced by the new "Fury" ships of the FX350, in line with the merger of both Leagues. This season saw one of the closest title battles in recent years between the current champion, Roman Kovalenko, and Icaras' Jean Belmondo, and at times including Þora Haraldssen of AG Systems and Andrew Dekka of EG-X.

Coming from their maiden FX400 title the previous year, Harimau International had been hard at work to carry over their 2212 success into the new season, as ever with their star pilot, Roman Kovalenko, at the helm. At that point, Kovalenko's main competition came from the other top finishers of the previous season: EG-X and AG Systems. EG-X appeared to be prepared to take it against Harimau this year according to their (few) press reports, but there had been doubts over these claims in the midst of the new rule changes coming in next year and uncertainty over who will replace their ailing pilot, Andrew Dekka. AG Systems is seeing resurgence with the promotion of their FX350 pilot, Þora Haraldssen, to replace Rachel Foxx. The double FX350 champion fitting the mould of Foxx quite well in pre-season testing, managing the best times during the open sessions.

A somewhat outside chance for the title were Icaras, led by Jean Belmondo. Despite having a dismal two seasons since his 2210 league title, Icaras has had quite an overhaul over the pre-season and whereas they are still behind the top teams, there is still potential for substantial improvement. Piranha as well have a potential chance at the title, but despite their good showing over the past two years, the age of both their craft design and their pilot, Tiago Castillo, are showing.

ROUND 1 – OUTPOST 7

Kovalenko, as expected, scored poler position in fashionable style. As equally as expected, second on the grid was taken by Dekka in the EG-X but third went to Italian Triakis pilot, Liana Morelli; Haraldssen would place fourth, followed by Belmondo.

In the early stages of the race, the front runners remained quite close together and parried quite well with well-coordinated use of rockets and mines, but after a smart use of a turbo under the bridge, Kovalenko manages to pull away and hold onto the lead position for the remainder of the race. Dekka would start to drop back because of his EG-X's inferior shield power compared to the Triakis tank, but would keep Belmondo and Haraldssen at bay to secure the last podium position.

The only non-finisher was Sebak Abou-Gazia of Mirage, who was knocked into the wall as he was exiting the first tunnel by a Qirex.

Standings

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 8 pts.

_Harimau_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 6 pts.

_Triakis_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 5 pts.

_EG-X_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 4 pts.

_AG Systems_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 3 pts.

_Icaras_

T. BYRON (USA) – 2 pts.

_Auricom_

ROUND 2 – VERTICA

The second round started as eventual as the previous round, with Kovalenko pulling away well to hold a good lead with the remaining podium spots being fought over by Dekka, Haraldssen and Morelli. However, Morelli suffered power issues after an accurate rocket by Belmondo detonated in the exhaust of Morelli's Triakis, damaging the engine. This moved Belmondo into fourth place, but dropped back after colliding with several mines.

Further down, the stronger ships of Castillo and Byron suffered on this fast circuit, only just managing to stay ahead of Nadia Elenova's Qirex to stay in the points. Overall, there were no retirements over the course of the weekend and Kovalenko managed to break the course record by half a second, breaking the previous record held by Elenova two years previously. Haraldssen would hold off Dekka to score second, but enough to move Dekka into second place in the standings.

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 16 pts.

_Harimau_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 10 pts.

_EG-X_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 10 pts.

_AG Systems_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 6 pts.

_Triakis_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 5 pts.

_Icaras_

T. CASTILLO (BRA) – 4 pts.

_Piranha_

ROUND 3 – PLATINUM RUSH

The race for the title started to get interesting at Greenland, where Kovalenko struggled to comes to grips with his Harimau, where it had undergone several alterations for the tricky track that were to come. Having only qualified as high as 4th, this left a window of opportunity for those behind them to grasp. Haraldssen made good use of this, putting her AG-S on pole, followed by Dekka of EG-X.

Whilst these two pilots got off to a good start, it was third place starter Belmondo who got the jump on the front running pilots to take the early lead. This was short lived for a little while as a well-placed rocket from Haraldssen moved Belmondo back well in field. However, Belmondo wasn't out for long. After a number of excellent manoeuvres, including leeching Kovalenko forcing the Russian Rocket to back off to conserve shield energy, Belmondo managed to come up right behind the two front runners. However, Haraldssen and Dekka were not going to give up their positions so easily. After a number of laps of attrition, a mistake on part of Dekka, who had briefly caught the lead, cause both Haraldssen and Belmondo to pass, with Belmondo furthermore taking Haraldssen to take the lead. Dekka would eventually lose one more place to Abou-Gazia, who raced one of his best races of his career moving from 5th to 3rd with minimal weapons hits to his ship.

Further down the order, Nadia Elenova scored Qirex its first points of the season rounding out the scoring positions. Liana Morelli struggled as well as her craft's front end speed had hindered her efforts to gain more positions, eventually contributing to her retirement on the penultimate lap.

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 19 pts.

_Harimau_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 16 pts.

_AG Systems_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 14 pts.

_EG-X_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 13 pts.

_Icaras_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 9 pts.

_Mirage_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 6 pts.

_Triakis_

ROUND 4 – EDGEWINTER

After the disappointing result at Platinum Rush, a lot of people expected that Kovalenko would bounce back to his best at Edgewinter, where he had so easily won the year before. They were badly wrong. Despite performing really well in practice and qualifying, but failed again to gain the speed he needed to hold off the pack and, including a barrage of weapon fire because of the narrow track, led to him relegated to the back of the field.

Therefore, the lead was hotly contested by two other frontrunners: Haraldssen and Belmondo. However, the crowd was more interested in the battle for 3rd, between Tyrrell Byron of Auricom and Elenova for Qirex. Not just because of the legendary rivalry between the teams, but because both teams had been mid-range for the past few seasons. Initially Elenova got ahead, but the calmer Auricom pilot managed to get past his opponent just before at the vertical mag-strip section halfway around the track. Byron would manage to hold onto this position to gain 3rd, Auricom's best position all year, considering their poor start to 2213.

Haraldssen would hold off Dekka for the win, which puts her and AG Systems in the lead in the points for the first time since 2208. Kovalenko would manage to regain some ground to round out the point scoring positions.

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 24 pts.

_AG Systems_

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 20 pts.

_Harimau_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 19 pts.

_Icaras_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 17 pts.

_EG-X_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 9 pts.

_Mirage_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 6 pts.

_Triakis_

ROUND 5 – GEMINI DAM

Once again, this race provided a surprise result as Kovalenko continued to struggle in the field, this time getting knocked out early on in the race due to a blind bomb. But just as surprising was Dekka's excellent from throughout the track and Morelli's return to form which saw her fiercely contend with Belmondo for second place. However, the Frenchman held on to continue his consistent good positions to move him up to second in the standings. These excellent performances pushed out Haraldssen form the top three, but she still kept her position at the top of the points. Kovalenko, however, dropped two positions, pushing him out of the top three. By this point, serious doubts behind Kovalenko's ability to defend his title started to arise.

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 28 pts.

_AG Systems_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 19 pts.

_Icaras_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 25 pts.

_EG-X_

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 20 pts.

_Harimau_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 13 pts.

_Triakis_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 9 pts.

_Mirage_

ROUND 6 – THE AMPHISEUM

This marquee event at The Amphiseum always brings glamour and drama to the season, and it sure didn't disappoint. A key talking point coming into this round was the arrest of Andrew Dekka reportedly for being drunk and disorderly at an Amphiseum nightclub. As it turned out, he was the innocent party in an altercation with an intoxicated patron, so he was acquitted. However, this didn't affect his track pace, easily qualifying first in front of Haraldssen and Kovalenko.

The first lap saw both Dekka and Haraldssen battle it out fiercely for the lead, in which one reporter described "a deathly grudge match". It was certainly deadly, as both opponents kept up a barrage of fire against each other, with neither of them considering their shield strength. Then, several laps later, both were eliminated after both ran into a line of mines dropped by a slower craft. This became the talking point of the entire race which also overshadowed the race result: Kovalenko would grasp this opportunity and eventually win the race by 5 seconds, followed by Jean Belmondo and Sebak Abou-Gazia. Haraldssen's retirement saw Belmondo succeed her in leading the standings, with Kovalenko moving back from 4th to equal second with Haraldssen.

Now at halfway through the season, Jean Belmondo leads by three points; a testimony to his consistent performance all season. Following him, drawn for second, are Haraldssen and Kovalenko who both had relatively strong showing earlier in the season, but had dropped off in the past few races. Andrew Dekka trails by 3 points, due to his less than impressive performances with some exceptions. If he is to try and attempt to become champion, he really needed to settle and get a rhythm in place soon. Following behind him are Liana Morelli (Triakis) – 16, Sebak Abou-Gazia (Mirage) – 16, Thiago Castillo (Piranha) – 13, Tyrrell Byron (Auricom) – 10, Nadia Elenova (Qirex) – 6 and Griffin Lang (FEISAR) – 1.

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 31 pts.

_Icaras_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 28 pts.

_AG Systems_

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 28 pts.

_Harimau_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 25 pts.

_EG-X_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 16 pts.

_Triakis_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 16 pts.

_Mirage_

ROUND 7 – TECH DE RA

Now into the second half of the season and there was optimism everywhere: Harimau believed that the issues behind their dismal first half had been sorted, and can effectively contest for the title; AG Systems and Þora Haraldssen both expressing confidence in their team that they can reclaim the title; Andrew Dekka commenting the changes he has made to his technique which should see him with more consistent results for the last part of the season.

As the race turned out, it wasn't just the front runners who had developed a long way over the mid-season. Qirex was the star of the weekend with Nadia Elenova achieving both fastest in practice and qualifying, comfortably placing the Qirex on pole for the race. She was joined by Kovalenko on the front row, with Belmondo and Morelli following behind on the second row. Qirex's strong charged lasted for a little while, but after misjudging the first chicane saw Elenova grind the wall, giving the lead over to Belmondo, who had been holding off Kovalenko for second. Meanwhile, both Haraldssen and Dekka were overwhelmed by the increased pressure of the competition, which saw both of them swamped in midfield. Unfortunately, this is where they finished, dealing a huge blow to both of their League campaigns.

Belmondo would hold on to win the race half a ship length in front of Kovalenko, putting him 5 points ahead of Kovalenko in the standings. Liana Morelli would take third which moves her ahead of Sebak Abou-Gazia, and a year best finish for FEISAR with Griffin Lang taking the team to fifth place. The only retirement was from Devin Moukila of Assegai.

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 39 pts.

_Icaras_

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 34 pts.

_Harimau_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 30 pts.

_AG Systems_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 26 pts.

_EG-X_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 21 pts.

_Triakis_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 16 pts.

_Mirage_

ROUND 8 – DE KONSTRUCT

Whereas the first half of the season kept us guessing who would take out the title, after this race it became a two horse race between Kovalenko of Harimau and Belmondo of Icaras, after their third one-two finish, with Kovalenko winning this round. Both pilots locked out the front row on the grid and both pulled an early lead over the rest of the grid. Eventually, Kovalenko managed to pull enough distance on the final lap to take the win over the favourite, Belmondo.

In the race behind them, FEISAR's Griffin Lang pulled of a magnificent 3rd place in what was one of the most explosive races of the season which saw Abou-Gazia eliminated earlier on in the race. This explosive combat also saw Andrew Dekka underperforming again bringing the EG-X home in 7th place, rounding out the points. However, the manoeuvrability of the AG-S ship helped Haraldssen take 4th to keep her league hopes alive, albeit quite unlikely.

With his victory, Kovalenko now trails by 3 points behind Belmondo.

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 45 pts.

_Icaras_

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 42 pts.

_Harimau_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 34 pts.

_AG Systems_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 27 pts.

_EG-X_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 24 pts.

_Triakis_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 16 pts.

_Mirage_

ROUND 9 – ORCUS

For the second (and final time), the FX400 made its way to Orcus, the secret base under the tundras of Alaska that very rarely known by the rest of the world. It is also one of the most challenging ever raced on, with its first running in 2211 being quite eventful, with a surprise victory by Griffin Lang.

It was the same here, with none of the top 3 pilots qualifying in the top three. Pole was taken by Abou-Gazia in his Mirage followed by Lang and Dekka. As soon as the race began, it was a mash-up of weapon fire and collisions as each of the crafts tried to consolidate their positions on this tight and technical circuit. Surprisingly, Belmondo AND Haraldssen were eliminated on the second lap, with Kovalenko and Dekka having to pull back due to critical shield levels. This gave the perfect opportunity for Lang to hang on to the lead in his FEISAR, which was far better suited to these conditions. Equally suited were the "tanks" of Triakis and Qirex, which rounded out the podium positions until Kovalenko recovered from his earlier issues to overtake his countryman, Elenova, to take third.

Belmondo's retirement saw Kovalenko overtake him in the standings and regain the lead in the title race. Lang's performance saw him move from 10th to 7th in the standings.

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 47 pts.

_Harimau_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 45 pts.

_Icaras_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 34 pts.

_AG Systems_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 30 pts.

_Triakis_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 29 pts.

_EG-X_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 19 pts.

_Mirage_

ROUND 10 – METROPIA

The Metropia round saw Griffin Lang continue his extraordinary battle with Kovalenko for the lead, to ultimately settle for second. Having qualified fourth fastest, Lang made good use of his start to get ahead of Belmondo and Haraldssen (who started second and third respectively) to be up against Kovalenko as they passed the Hallrun Estate. Behind them, Belmondo, Haraldssen and Dekka had a small battle going on before Dekka fell back due to engine trouble.

Lang's 3rd place moves him up into the top six for the first time, and has been the talking point of several teams wanting to pick him for next year. With a five point lead over Belmondo, Kovalenko needed to maintain this pace coming into the last two rounds to secure him his second league title.

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 55 pts.

_Harimau_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 50 pts.

_Icaras_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 38 pts.

_AG Systems_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 31 pts.

_Triakis_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 31 pts.

_EG-X_

G. LANG (GER) – 19 pts.

_FEISAR_

ROUND 11 – MOA THERMA

Just as everyone thought that this season's twists were at an end, there was one more in store on the famous Sicilian track. During practice, a leaking fluid valve from Kovalenko's right air brake saw him glide to the outside of the hairpin right after the Serptel Overpass, damaging the craft. Although the Harimau team made it eligible to race, Kovalenko saw malfunctions with the AG generator made the craft unfit to race and withdrew himself from the race.

With Kovalenko out, everyone knew that the result of this race would set the tone for the final race at Talon's Junction. Belmondo naturally got pole for the race, followed by Haraldssen, Abou-Gazia and Dekka. During the race, Dekka capitalised the absence of Kovalenko the most by pulling ahead of the field earlier on. However, he started to fall behind later on, eventually being passed by Haraldssen, who would go on to win the race, and almost by Belmondo. Lang and Abou-Gazia battle on for a while, but a quake from Elenova, and a lucky shield, saw Abou-Gazia pass Lang to score 4th.

With Belmondo's third place, he was now equal with Kovalenko for the league title. Haraldssen was out of the running with a 9 point deficit from the two leaders.

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 55 pts.

_Harimau_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 55 pts.

_Icaras_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 46 pts.

_AG Systems_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 37 pts.

_EG-X_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 32 pts.

_Triakis_

G. LANG (GER) – 26 pts.

_FEISAR_

ROUND 12 – TALON'S JUNCTION

The tension coming into the final round was the thickest anyone had seen for several years. Belmondo had experienced this against Vincent Stephenson for the 2210 season (which was a draw), but this was new to Kovalenko who had won his first title by a landslide. To a lot of people, it was a matter of who would beat the other, rather than who will win the race.

Belmondo started in pole for the race, followed by Kovalenko, then Dekka. For the first two laps, the two leaders battle hard for the lead, with Dekka and Morelli joining in. However, several hits later and Belmondo fell back far into the grid, giving the race, and the title to Kovalenko. Kovalenko kept up a clean race to take it out by 3 seconds; somewhat anti-climactic, but still emotional for both Kovalenko and the Harimau team. Belmondo, in a sign of fair sportsmanship, congratulated Kovalenko before he stepped on the podium, a gesture that Kovalenko reciprocated. Following behind Kovalenko was Dekka in second, thus successful in his comeback to take 4th in the season, and a surprise finish for Piranha's Thiago Castillo in third.

FINAL RESULTS

R. KOVALENKO (RUS) – 63 pts.

_Harimau_

J. BELMONDO (FRA) – 57 pts.

_Icaras_

T. HARALDSSEN (NOR) – 46 pts.

_AG Systems_

A. DEKKA (USA) – 43 pts.

_EG-X_

L. MORELLI (ITA) – 32 pts.

_Triakis_

S. ABOU-GAZIA (UAE) – 29 pts.

_Mirage_

G. LANG (GER) – 27 pts.

_FEISAR_

T. CASTILLO (BRA) – 21 pts.

_Piranha_

A. ELENOVA (RUS) – 20 pts.

_Qirex_

T. BYRON (USA) – 10 pts.

_Auricom_

D. MOUKILA (CGO) – 0 pts.

_Assegai_

T. FERRAI (HAW) – 0 pts.

_Goteki 45_


	16. Auricom Research Industries

**Auricom Research Industries**

Auricom Research Industries are of course one of the most well-known AG teams currently racing, but their reputation was formed strongly off the track than they were on it. Founded on the belief of Pierre Belmondo, this team has always held anti-gravity research and development very close to their hearts, which sees them in direct opposition to arch-rivals Qirex. Despite this, they have actively been fighting for outright honors in all forms of AG racing, in which they just edge out AG Systems with the most AGRC titles other then Qirex by one season.

Auricom was founded in 2046 by former AG Systems Chief Science Officer, Delia Flaubert. Flaubert had been associated with Belmondo since the days of the Foundation of Anti-Gravity Research, and was a staunch believer in his plans for AG technology. This devotion was awarded with a promotion to CSO upon the establishment of AG Systems, where she would personally oversee the research into applicable use of AG generators and the various possibilities of the future of the technology.

However, her influential position was to be threatened by AG Systems' Chief Technology Officer, Holst McQueen. McQueen, who oversaw the commercial production of AG technology, saw the strong market possibilities of the technology and fought hard to get more bias towards the business aspect of AG. Delia, with her strong Belmondoist values, was very much against McQueen's ambitions, and as a result came into conflict on a number of occasions. This reached its peak in 2044, where it was reported that the two got into a heated argument in a teppanyaki bar in Kyoto, the location of AG Systems' headquarters. This embarrassment saw both Delia and McQueen sacked from the company, but Belmondo's sympathies did lie with Delia.

Auricom's first and foremost goal was to establish a reputable AG R&D company in the United States so that Americans would benefit from the best, and widely applied, AG technology in the world. AG racing was further down on their agenda, but nonetheless applied to it with earnest. This was partly due to Russian company Qirex Industries, with McQueen onboard, making plans to enter. As such, Auricom managed to develop the necessary crafts required to enter the first Anti-Gravity Racing Championships in 2048 with a prospective line-up including former Air Force pilot "B.J" Johnson, Japanese rookie Arial Tetsuo and the mysterious Anastasia Cherovoski.

Auricom's first decade in competition laid the foundations for their immortal rivalry with Qirex. And it was not surprising considering their leaders, crew AND pilots disliked each other. This particularly came to head in 2059 when Qirex launched a smear campaign against Arial Tetsuo in an effort to undermine her and her team. This came at the time Auricom had their first big success with back to back titles in 2058 and '59, with their revolutionary dual hull construction, which would become a hallmark of Auricom ever since.

Their next strong period came during the 2070s where a variety of pilots saw moderate success with Auricom. Most notable were Marcus Fairclough, Canada's only world champion Paige Mercer and "Russian Rocket" Konstantin Rykov. This was seen again during the F5000 with the likes of Jacob Van Vuuren, Sebastian Loewe and Alex Alexandersson, but whereas the other teams at this time had personalities that carried the brand, Auricom's successes mainly came to good teamwork and some luck.

Auricom's personality came in the form of Wolfgang Van-Über. Van-Über was indeed a fast pilot, but was better known for his staunch anti-weapons approach to racing, which he would later call "the Purity of the Race". Arriving at the team in 2133, Van-Über would help Auricom score a team's title in only his first season with the team. He would repeat this two years later, while winning the pilots championship as well, and would finish up winning four out of five titles between 2135 and 2140.

However, at this point, relations between the race commission and Auricom were starting to go sour. In 2133 the Overtel Corporation, who McQueen had sold Qirex to in the 2050s, gained the controlling stake in the F7200 AG Race Commission and were starting to alter the rules with a particular bias towards spectator entertainment. Although Auricom did conform to these new rulings, their moral position in the sport was seriously threatened when AG Systems announced it was selling its AG team to AG consumer brand G-Tech. Without a stable supporter, and to defend their recent success at the end of the F7200, Auricom took on a very aggressive stance during the F9000 and threatened "…to rip apart anyone who strayed from the Belmondo ideals".

This saw them at direct opposition initially with Qirex's successors, Tigron. The two teams brought the age-old rivalry to new heights, to the point where Tigron was to promise their lead pilot, Omarr Khumala "… his own diamond farm if he could put Auricom out of business for good". If Auricom's rivalry with Tigron was bad enough, they were gaining new enemies. Most notably were Xios International who managed to snatch Natasha Belmondo, Auricom's 2156-58 champion, just after the end of the 2158 season. So much so that Xios' flamboyant Director, Didier Humeau, constantly mocked Auricom, much to the chagrin of Auricom's Director of Operations, Gideon Oldfield.

Eventually, Auricom had enough of the "circus" and announced their withdrawal from the F9000 in 2168 in protest over Overtel's management of the sport. But this wasn't before they scored their 28th league title with Pascale Rouser taking the pilots title. After this, Auricom were contracted to the US Government, supplying their AG technology for a variety of civil applications. When the F9000 collapsed in October 2170, Auricom were immediately called up for questioning over their activities while they were still competing. Auricom were quickly dismissed of any corruption allegations.

Auricom would return to AG racing during the FX150 Amateur Leagues of the late 2180s and 90s, supporting owners of their older crafts. It made sense for the team to enter a works team when the FX300 League was announced in 2195. The older Auricom employees where very relieved when they saw the makeup of the new league was very much similar to the F3600/F5000 races of old, including the reemergence of Qirex. Auricom would see initial success with the "Silver Fox" Amy Senand flying for them. But after she left the team to fly with Piranha, the pace of their craft slowly crept downhill, failing to stand on the podium for six years.

As such, Auricom withdrew from the early seasons of the FX400 to refine their craft. Naturally, this raised concerns that Auricom could no longer handle the competition. When they returned, they had promised that Auricom was now in a good position to contest more races, but they still dwell in the mid-pack despite a few respectable finishes along the way. In the dawn of a new era of AG racing, Auricom has expressed more confidence that their craft can compete and will compete. Only time will tell.


End file.
